Meeting to approve Hyde Park's acquisition of Essex

A stockholder meeting to approve Hyde Park Acquisition Corp's acquisition of Essex Crane Rental in the US is scheduled for 31 October. The meeting will be held at 10.00 a.m. Eastern time in New York.

Laurence Levy, Hyde Park chairman and CEO, said, "The strong operating results, new contract activity, and robust end-market demand that positively impacted Essex's 2008 first half financial results have continued into the company's current third quarter. As a result, Essex remains on track to exceed its previously projected 2008 Total EBITDA of $40.2 million, due primarily to as much as an 8% increase in predicted full year rental EBITDA. Also, as previously announced, we have secured a fully committed debt facility to close this transaction and provide us with ample liquidity for future growth and investment."

Hyde Park's acquisition of Essex Crane Rental Corp was announced in March 2008 as a US$210 million deal. Essex Crane Rental is one of the world's largest owners of crawler cranes. Its primary markets include bridge and road construction, power generation, water treatment, refineries, alternative energy and other infrastructure projects.

New York-based Hyde Park Acquisition was incorporated in Delaware in August 2006 as a blank cheque company with the objective of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition or other similar business combination with an operating business. Hyde Park's initial public offering was declared in March 2007.