Exponent buys HSS group

Private equity firm Exponent has bought equipment hire group HSS, which has over 20 depots in Ireland, in a deal completed at the weekend.

Earlier this year, UK-based Exponent Private Equity backed the €170 million purchase of Galway-based payments processor Fintrax.

That deal involved both the private equity investor and the company’s management, which joined forces to purchase the business from founder Gerry Barry.

Exponent bought HSS, which hires equipment and tools for building, plumbing, landscaping and events to businesses and consumers.

HSS has 230 branches in Ireland and Britain.

Last year it had sales of £180.2 million, an increase of 5 per cent on 2010. Profits reached £39.8 million.

The group has grown its business further this year.

HSS was previously owned by Perry Capital and Occupied Capital Management, which bought it from another private equity firm 3i in 2007.

3i, which was an active investor in Ireland for a period, bought HSS from the Davis Service Group in 2003.