UK – The Swedish refrigeration group, Beijer Ref AB, has announced that it is set to acquire the remaining 56% of the shares in the refrigeration wholesale company, HRP Ltd, whose head office is located in Rougham and has 15 branches in other locations throughout the United Kingdom. Beijer Ref had already owned 44% of HRP’s shares after the comany acquired Carrier Corporation’s refrigeration wholesale operation in Europe and South Africa in 2009.
Beijer Ref sees this acquisition as a move which will strengthen its position in Europe and hopes that HRP will act as a complement to the group’s existing UK refrigeration wholesalers, Dean & Wood and RW Refrigeration Wholesale. Beijer Ref hope that the combination of these three entities will help confirm the group’s position as market leader in the United Kingdom.

HRP (which was founded in 1945 as Headlands Refrigerator Parts) has 170 employees and reports annual sales of around £38M and has a broad product range comprising around 10,000 products including leading brand names such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Samsung, Toshiba, Danfoss, Copeland, Lawton, BOC, Aspera and L’Unite.
Despite the fact that HRP has experienced profitability problems in recent years, Beijer Ref claim that they see good opportunities for reversing this trend through the efficient co-ordination with the Group’s existing UK refrigeration operations and intend to implement a fully-comprehensive UK logistics network.

Per Bertland, the CEO of Beijer Ref, commented on the acquisition, saying “With the acquisition of HRP, we consolidate Beijer Ref’s operation in the important UK market. The three companies will continue to operate under their respective brands. However, through the joint group affiliation, we will be able to offer even better service and more efficient logistics, which improves our total offer in a competitive market.”

Equally, the acquisition was welcomed by HRP, with shareholder Yvonne Curtis declaring “The Board of HRP believes that becoming full members of the Beijer Ref team in the UK represents the best opportunity for the future development of HRP. With the skills and resources of a larger group behind us we will be better placed to address the new markets opening up in our business.”