Ainscough Crane Hire is the UK's market leading crane hire company. Founded in 1976 by Gerald Ainscough and his family the company has been run by three of his sons, Martin, James and Brendan - since 1984. Ainscough has expanded through a combination of acquisition and organic growth and boasts an unrivalled national network of 25 depots and the UK's largest and most modern fleet of 500 mobile cranes. The company is headquartered near Wigan.

The principal shareholders of Ainscough had significantly reduced their day to day involvement in the business and were seeking an exit. It was clear that an MBO was the most likely route. An auction process was run to select the preferred financial instituition to support the management team.

PPCF was appointed as advisor to the management team, advising on structuring the transaction. The management team extracted a significant level of cash from the transaction and rolled over equity into the new investment alongside Bank of Scotland Integrated Finance who provided all of the new funding. The management team retained control of the business.