Archie Norman, the former chief of Asda who oversaw the turnaround of the supermarket group in the Nineties, has made his first acquisition through the investment vehicle he set up last summer.

Aurigo Investments, the investment vehicle, has joined forces with the hedge fund Och-Ziff Capital Management Group for the £310 million acquisition of HSS, the tool hire company, from 3i, the private equity firm.

Mr Norman, 53, who is also working on a bid for the food distribution company Brakes, with Blackstone, the private equity firm, will become chairman of HSS. Chris Davies will remain chief executive of the company.

It marks the entrepreneur’s first success after the establishment of the fund, which previously lost out in the race for Esporta, the fitness chain, and Phones4U, the mobile phones chain.

"We are pleased to acquire HSS which is a high quality business undergoing substantial change in an attractive market,” Mr Norman said. “We look forward to working with HSS's very strong leadership team to support the business on the next phase of its transformation. We see great potential in HSS and the people who work for it."

He added that the plan was to “accelerate a programme of transformation” at HSS, as it repositions itself as a supplier of equipment to larger trade customers.

Mr Norman has been on the lookout for a fresh turnaround opportunity, having rescued Asda from near-bankruptcy and sold it to Wal-Mart for £6.7 billion. He also orchestrated a revival of Energis that gained him the lion's share of a bonus pool of £30 million upon the telecom group's sale to Cable & Wireless in 2005.

Aurigo was backed in the deal by investment funds managed by Perry Capital UK, Bank of Scotland Corporate, RIT Capital Partners, and Och-Ziff, while Lazard acted as sole financial adviser.

Chris Davies, the chief executive of HSS, said: “We now have secure backing to support our programme to transform HSS into Britain's leading equipment hire and maintenance business. We look forward to working with Archie Norman and our new investors who will bring great support and insight to our team.”

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