German tower crane manufacturer Wolffkran has taken over the UK crane hire business of PC Harrington. Wolffkran has confirmed that it completed the acquisition of HTC Plant on 14th May. Previous owner PC Harrington collapsed into administration last month.
PC Harrington acquired HTC from Hewden in 2002 after Hewden was itself taken over by Canadian Caterpillar dealer Finning, which had no interest in tower cranes.
HTC Plant, now renamed HTC Wolffkran, has a fleet of more than 200 Wolff tower cranes, mostly luffers, and 370 employees. Annual turnover is approximately £40m. The company has been the exclusive Wolff dealer in the UK for 40 years.
Although primarily a manufacturer, Wolffkran also operates rental fleets in several countries. With the integration of HTC’s crane fleet, Wolffkran’s global rental fleet will count more than 750 tower cranes.
Wolffkran was part of the MAN conglomerate until it was taken over in 2005 by Peter Schiefer, who also became chief executive of the business. Dr Schiefer said of the HTC takeover: “The acquisition is a big step for Wolffkran, but a very logical one. It’s totally in line with our global strategy of manufacturing, selling, renting and providing related crane services. With HTC we are taking an experienced and highly motivated management team and an extremely skilled work force on board. And the solid UK construction market was just another driver for our decision.”
HTC managing director Dave Holder added: “Wolffkran has been the tower crane manufacturer of our choice for decades. It’s reliable and state of the art cranes are the ideal fit for our ‘be the best’ culture. Becoming a fully integrated part of the Wolff family fills us with pride and confidence.”
