Hugall & Hoile goes to Total Eden buyer

Sydney-based industrial firm Alesco Corporation Ltd has bought the rights to the brands of Hugall & Hoile and Turf & Irrigation, as well as certain strategic assets, from the administrators of Australian Waterwise Solutions Ltd.

AWS was forced to appoint adminstrators in May after an inventory stocktake revealed inventory values significantly below expectations, and the company proved unable to sell Turf & Irrigation, its east coast subsidiary, for the expected price. The company owed $9 million to Westpac, and was unable to convince it to accept a debt reduction.

Alesco acquired Perth-based irrigation and water management group Total Eden McCracken in a deal worth around $250 million on August 1.

The full text of a company announcement is pasted below

Alesco Corporation Limited (ASX:ALS) today announced that its Total Eden McCracken's business has acquired the naming rights to Hugall & Hoile and Turf & Irrigation and certain associated outlets, intellectual property and other strategic assets from Ferrier Hodgson the administrators of Australian Waterwise Solutions Ltd (ASX: AWS).

"Hugall & Hoile is an iconic Western Australian brand and was a regional competitor of Total Eden McCracken's. It has strong recognition for water management know-how among the public as well as the trade and commercial customers. This acquisition will further enhance Total Eden McCracken's market leading distribution brands for water management products and services", Alesco CEO Mr Justin Ryan said.

On 1 August 2007 Alesco acquired Total Eden McCracken's a leading provider of water management products and services to Australia's agricultural, domestic, commercial, industrial and mining industries.