Hargreaves Services acquire CA Blackwell

Opencast coal firm acquires bulk earthmoving specialist and major plant operator for £11.85 million

HARGREAVES Services plc, suppliers of opencast coal and bulk material logistics, have acquired major plant operators CA Blackwell Group Ltd in a deal worth £11.85 million. 

Blackwell, who have been operating in the field of bulk earthmoving and civil engineering for more than 50 years, also operate a number of major mining and quarrying services contracts, including mining services at Wolf Minerals’ Hemerdon tungsten mine in Devon and loading and hauling services at Aggregate Industries’ Glensanda superquarry in Scotland.

Hargreaves say Blackwell’s operations will be highly complementary to their own in terms of skills, experience and the equipment that they utilize, and the company’s integration into Hargreaves will create new and exciting opportunities to deploy one of the largest heavy plant fleets in Europe.

For the year ended 31 December 2015, Blackwell are expected to generate an operating profit of £3.3 million on revenues of £89.0 million.

Gordon Banham, chief executive officer of Hargreaves, commented: ‘The acquisition of Blackwell extends the reach of Hargreaves into the UK earthworks and civil engineering sector, bringing further diversification to the Group and offering an attractive return on capital.

‘The business is complementary to and synergistic with our existing mining operations and offers flexibility with our existing fleet of heavy plant, providing further opportunities to diversify the Group’s operational focus.

‘We are delighted to welcome the Blackwell team into the Group and look forward to combining our expertise to work with them on the growing market opportunities in the UK, including the enhancement and renewal of the nation’s critical infrastructure.’