London, December 10th  .- The Spanish business assault on the United Kingdom continues. Ferrovial, Santander, Agbar, Telefónica and now Ros Roca, The Lleida-based family group has just become the largest manufacturer worldwide of equipment for the environment with its purchase of the British firm Dennis Eagle. Ros Roca will pay 150 million euros for the company, which specialises in the production of refuse vehicles and vehicle chassis.
Dennis Eagle, based in Warwick, has since 2004 belonged to the ABN Amro group and Lloyds Development Capital who acquired the company from the risk capital firm Bridgepoint. Ros Roca will keep the current management team, which possesses around 5% of the company’s capital.
With factories in Warwick and Blackpool, Dennis Eagle is the British market leader in refuse collection lorries, with a market share of 53%. The company, which employs 580 people, also has a noteworthy presence in the Scandinavian countries and has an affiliate in France. It has recently signed licences to introduce its products in China and India. According to Ros Roca, Dennis Eagle will close the 2006 financial year with a turnover of 172 million euros and a gross exploitation profit (ebitda) of 17.5 million.
Financing
Ros Roca will finance the purchase of Dennis Eagle with loans from ING Belgium and the Royal Bank of Scotland. The operation has been assessed by the ING itself and by the Garrigues firm, whose chairman, Antonio Garrigues Walker, is an independent adviser of the Ros Roca Group.
With the integration of Dennis Eagle, Ros Roca’s turnover will increase to around six hundred million euros and consolidate its role as a leading player in the world market for technology for the environment. The refuse vehicles manufactured and containers marketed by the company from Tàrrega (Lleida) are present in practically all Spanish cities and in big European capitals such as Paris. In France and Germany the group has its own producing affiliates, although by way of distributors it operates in over 70 countries. In 2005, it gained control of the Portuguese company Resitual.
The chairman of Ros Roca Group is Ramon Roca Enrich, who in 1998 took over control of the company, with a then turnover of 150 million, from his father. Internationalisation and entering in new businesses have been key factors in the growth that the Catalan multinational has experienced since the second generation took over the reins. Thus Ros Roca has entered in the business of pneumatic waste collecting system - where it competes with the Swiss Envac - and in the development and construction of turnkey municipal waste composting and bio-methanisation plants.
Operation in Italy
Ros Roca’s other major business area, with plants in Tàrrega and Agramunt (Lleida) and a workforce of a thousand people, is the construction of steel tankers for the transport of liquids and gases. This division is headed by Salvador Roca, the chairman’s brother.
The purchase of Dennis Eagle coincides with the negotiations that the family group are maintaining for obtaining a minority participation in another firm in the sector: the Italian company OMB. This company is another of the biggest European manufacturers of refuse collectors vehicles, where it has specialised in side loading. The Competition Defence Service has already authorised the operation, which is awaiting a decision from the Italian authorities.
Truck bodywork for the environment

Dennis Eagle has two factories in Warwick and Blackpool, employing 580 people
With sales of some 172 million, it produces refuse collectors and lorry chassis
The group has just signed licences to introduce its products into China and India.

In addition to this, Ros Roca products are currently marketed and distributed by Muni-serv Ltd, based on Liverpool, so Ros Roca nowadays is the unquestionable leader in the UK market.