DLL targets Nordics
De Lage Landen, the pan European lessor, has
launched a bid to buyout Nordic lessor IT Finans AG. Carlo van
Kemenade, COO of De Lage Landen’s European operations, made clear
his plans to acquire the IT and office equipment specialist in a
statement released last month. A letter of intent has been signed
by DLL and IT Finans, and provided regulatory authorities give the
go-ahead, the deal should b sealed by the end of 2007.
Landmark Lex deal
In Lex’s biggest ever sale and leaseback deal, the contract hire
and fleet lessor last month completed a £4.5m deal with Speedy
Hire, the tool hire specialist. The deal, which involved some 740
light commercial vehicles and cars, coincided with the sale of the
assets by Hewden Tools, a subsidiary of the Scottish plant hire
group Hewden Stuart, to Lex. On the same day this happened, Hewden
Tools was bought by Speedy Hire.
German launch
White Clarke Group, the IT specialist, plans to use its new
Munich base as a platform for expanding its leasing and automotive
finance products throughout Europe. Peter Kainradl, managing
director of WCG in Europe, said it plans to have 10 staff in
Germany by the end of 2008. WCG has other regional offices in North
America and Australia.
Polish growth
There are no signs of a slowdown in the Polish leasing market
with the value of the country’s lease contracts up 56 per cent
year-on-year. The total value of deals by year end are expected to
total PLN 32bn (€8.7bn), against PLN 23bn (€6.2bn) at the end of
quarter three 2007. Leasing of vehicles represents the largest
chunk of the market, with deals up to the end of Q3 totalling PLN
13.7bn (€3.7bn), up 63 per cent year on year. Industrial machinery,
which grew 46 per cent during this period, totalled PLN 6.5bn
(€1.7bn).
