After many weeks of rumour and speculation, the long awaited announcement of the deal between McAleese and Heavy Haulage Australia has gone public. McAleese Group is to acquire 50 per cent of HHA Group, specialists in heavy haulage transport and lifting covering all facets of the industry, including transportation, cranes, electrical wire/transport escort services, storage support and self propelled modular trailer (SPMT) logistics.
The company, featured in the Megatruckers TV series, employs more than 120 people at sites in Brisbane (head office), Toowoomba, Darwin, Port Hedland, Perth and Adelaide. HHA have grown rapidly as heavy haulage and lifting tasks for the infield oil and gas sector have grown.
According to a statement from McAleese, “The alliance with McAleese Heavy Haulage & Lifting, in particular further strengthens their ability to serve the larger project logistics tasks in these sectors across a national network.
“The strategic equity investment presents an opportunity to build upon McAleese’s existing skills, broaden the customer base and leverage the businesses combined assets into new markets and significantly improve utilisation in the Heavy Haulage & Lifting division.”
A statement from HHA tells us, “The outcome of this transaction will see Heavy Haulage Australia cement its standing as the country’s premier heavy haulage logistics provider and ensure its innovative and market leading approach to safety, equipment and overall operations will continue for years to come.
HHA Managing Director, Jon Kelly, and his existing management team will continue to control and operate the business with the McAleese Group. The deal gives the McAleese Group an option to acquire the remaining 50 per cent of HHA within two to five years of this initial equity investment.
“I am very excited by the prospect of this partnership which combines the operations of HHA with the McAleese Heavy Haulage & Lifting division to provide a formidable national service offering within the Australian heavy haulage marketplace,” said Kelly. “HHA has been very successful over the past two years in diversifying its portfolio of work and securing long term contracts. However, this success has seen a need for additional capital investment to ensure we continue to provide the highest standard of company owned assets to all new and existing clients.
“We will also be looking to leverage the extensive McAleese Heavy Haulage & Lifting fleet to assist us in furthering our service offering to our clients in a vast array of locations across Australia. The on road, heavy lift and corporate support that McAleese can offer HHA will only allow us to further flourish within our defined chosen markets”
From a single operator in 1999, HHA, with the enigmatic Kelly at the helm, has grown to become one of the largest heavy haul fleets in Australia with over 65 prime movers, over 760 axle lines of trailers and 18 cranes.
“The past five years at HHA have been an amazing success story, our growth through trying times is a credit to our great customers and our professional staff,” said Kelly. “Our strategic partnership with McAleese allows me to keep pushing our vision and service offering with the added benefit of their asset base and financial capability, HHA is not a small business anymore and it is exciting to recognise that the brand will flourish for many, many years to come.”
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