星空传媒

The country鈥檚 second biggest steelwork contractor has been sold to a Manchester-based entrepreneur who is the older brother of former Take That singer Jason Orange, 星空传媒 can reveal.

Sale Sharks co-owner Simon Orange has bought a majority stake in the family-owned firm, set up in Bolton in 1888 by its eponymous founder, for an undisclosed sum.

Orange, who also races GT cars, bought Sale nine years ago and recently sold a stake in his CorpAcq business, a corporate acquisitions specialist he set up in 2006, to London private equity firm TDR Capital.

According to Forbes, the deal earlier this year was rumoured to be worth 拢1bn with proceeds from the sale understood to be funding the acquisition of Hare.

Under the terms of the deal to TDR, Orange and his management team will maintain a significant shareholding and continue to run CorpAcq.

Based in Altrincham, CorpAcq specialises in making investments in small to medium-sized enterprises in the UK.

In a statement, Hare said Orange 鈥渨ill be holding the business in a personal capacity alongside some of his other significant investments鈥�.

It added: 鈥淲illiam Hare鈥檚 existing management team, including chief executive Susan Hodgkiss and director Matthew Nesbit, will continue to lead the business, with Simon offering support and guidance as the group looks to support its clients鈥� ambitious projects.鈥�

Orange said: 鈥淚 am thrilled to be investing in William Hare, a company with a strong culture and rich history, which is working with a broad spectrum of clients on some of the largest and most exciting buildings in the world.

鈥淲ith market leading credentials in engineering, fabrication, construction and sustainability, I know that William Hare is a business that is built for the future and has an exciting role to play in the future of construction and manufacturing.鈥�

In its last set of accounts for the year to December 2023, the company, now based in Bury, posted a turnover of 拢316m 鈥� second only to Severfield 鈥� and returned to the black with a pre-tax profit of 拢5.8m after two successive years of losses. The firm鈥檚 net cash at the year end was up to 拢27.4m from 拢20m.

Staff were being told this morning about the deal with William Hare currently employing around 2,000 people with around half based in the UK and the remainder in the rest of the world including India and the UAE.

星空传媒 understands the Hodgkiss family will retain a stake in the business and Nesbit added: 鈥淭he business is in a really strong financial position, with historically high levels of cash, providing clients the confidence to continue trusting us to deliver the quality and outcomes that we have built our reputation on.

鈥淚n the current climate, it鈥檚 clear the market needs confidence in its supply chain and with our expertise and strong financial position we believe we are well placed to provide that and deliver world class projects across the built environment.鈥�

Speaking about the deal, one contractor said: 鈥淎n investor who has confidence in any business and its management team is usually a good thing. Hares are one of a small group of very capable steel contractors in the UK.鈥�

Another firm added: 鈥淚鈥檓 pleased it鈥檚 not been subsumed into another large contractor or supplier Day to day, I鈥檓 led to believe it鈥檚 business as usual.鈥�

In the early 1990s son and daughter David and Susan Hodgkiss became joint chief executives after their father Bartle, son in law to William Hare junior, stepped away.

David Hodgkiss, who was also a former chairman of Lancashire country cricket club, passed away five years ago and was replaced by Susan as chief executive.

Hare鈥檚 most recent schemes include the Timber Square and One Liverpool Street developments in London, being built by Mace, while it also worked on the 2 Aldermanbury Square scheme in the City which is being built by Bovis.

The firm has also won the steelwork contract on the 60 Gracechurch Street tower, due to be built by Bovis, in the City.