Cross Rental Services

Sector: Business Goods

Status: In Portfolio

Fund: III

Deal type: Secondary management buyout

Investment date: August 2021

Dublin-based Cross Rental Services was our second investment in the Irish market.

It provides specialist cooling and heating equipment and services on a rental basis to a variety of end markets across Ireland and the UK.

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“Elysian are an experienced investor in this sector and have demonstrated a strong commitment to our business throughout the time we have known them. We are very excited to work with them, and their investment into the business will enable us to deliver on our ambitious growth plans via accelerated capital expenditure and targeted M&A within our core markets.”

Graeme Nesbitt

Chief Executive, Cross Rental Services

Investment rationale

Cross Rental Services had significant growth potential in its two divisions - Refrigeration & Catering Solutions (R&CS) and Climate Control Solutions (CCS).

R&CS provides a fully managed turn-key service for a range of commercial refrigeration and catering assets, with a market leading position for long-term retail refrigeration rental.

Meanwhile, CCS provides a large base of blue-chip customers with heating and cooling solutions. It mainly focusses on chillers, boilers, heaters and air-conditioning, with a specialisation in complex products used for high-criticality applications.

Creating value

The business had grown strongly in recent years - including throughout the pandemic - and had established a significant UK platform for growth in its two divisions.

At the time of our investment, Cross Rental Services was ready for its next expansion phase, with ambitious plans to increase its market presence and build further scale within the UK market organically and through bolt-on opportunities.

Under our ownership, Cross has:

Acquired All Seasons Hire Limited, one of the UK’s leading HVAC rental companies from HSS Hire Group plc.
Added, through the acquisition, revenue of £18m to the group and significantly expanded its fleet cementing Cross Rental Services’ position as one of the largest specialist HVAC and Refrigeration rental businesses in the UK and Irish market.
As part of the deal entered into a long-term commercial agreement for the supply of HVAC equipment and services to HSS.
Relocated two branches to larger, improved premises.