Friday roundup: Landmark acquisitions | Speedy’s sustainability deal

From left to right: Rodney Moran, Ben Redman, Shane Watson, Tim Farac, Peter O’Donnell

Take for example Kennards Hire, which acquired Ballina-based Betta Hire. The deal for Ballina-based Betta Hire represents Kennards Hire’s 64th branch in New South Wales and finalises the company’s ’Northern Rivers Triangle’, joining existing locations in Byron Bay and Lismore.

Batta’s branch, now known as Kennards Hire Ballina, will offer an expanded range of hire equipment, including traffic management solutions, large generators, access equipment, and other specialist tools. The branch will also feature additional “core products.”

Meanwhile, Sumitomo Corp of Japan acquired 100% of the shares of Indonesian pump rental company PT.

REL, which is based in Balikpapan, Kalimantan, rents large pumps mainly for mining dewatering operations in Indonesia. It was founded in 2010 and employs 70 staff.

The acquisition was made through Sumitomo’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Aver Asia, an aerial platform rental business based in Singapore. Aver has rental locations in several South East Asian countries, including Indonesia.

Sumitomo said the deal will allow Aver Asia to cross sell its existing construction equipment fleet to REL customers.

Finally, industrial and port crane manufacturing group Konecranes closed its acquisition of Rotterdam-based Peinemann Port Services BV and Peinemann Container Handling BV.

Konecranes announced its intentions to acquire the businesses, subsidiaries of Peinemann, back in October, and the deal has now received the required approval from the Dutch competition authority.

At the time of the announcement, Konecranes said it would add over €40 million in revenues, with some 100 employees expected to join the company.

Sustainability focus

The K41 floodlight. (Photo: Speedy Hire)

Away from acquisitions, Speedy Hire partnered with lighting tower manufacturer Ritelite Systems to launch a new sustainable floodlight.

Mounted on a tripod with a 360º configuration, the K41 offers up 92,000 lumen light output with a 110V/240V AC 50Hz input, creating more light with less energy input.

The companies said it has been designed to respond to a lack of energy efficient lighting solutions available for the construction sector and minimise light pollution through optimised power efficiency that is capable of achieving extended periods of use on a single battery-powered generator.

Sticking with the sustainability theme, event rental specialists Events Crew has invested in 24 X-ECO LED lighting towers from Trime.

The Trime X-ECO features six 160W multi-directional adjustable and tiltable floodlights LED lamps mounted on a 9m hydraulic mast.

Operating on a 48V system, the X-ECO is said to prioritise energy efficiency and safety and can reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

Events Crew currently operates a fleet of 40 Trime X-ECO LED and X-CHAIN lighting towers and manages over two hundred Trime lighting towers on behalf of a UK rental organisation.

Results season

In the US, Ryan Greenawalt, chief executive officer of Alta Equipment, said that the company is continuing to be impacted by ongoing uncertainty in its end-user markets.

In its results for the third quarter of 2024, the company announced a 0.3% decrease in rental revenues on the same period last year, down to $53.7 million.

However, rental revenues for the nine months ended September 30 were up by 8.8% to $155.9 million.

Sales from rental equipment for the third quarter were up by 6.6% to $35.1 million, while the period to September 30 also increased by 10% to $1.1 million.

At the same time, spider lift manufacturer Leguan Lifts kicked off the new fiscal year with order intake up nearly 60% compared to the same period last year.

The company said the orders reflected its growth across global markets. “Leguan Lifts is making significant inroads in sales growth on key market areas such as North America and Asia where the adoption of spider lifts is on the rise,” said the company.

“Customers in these regions are discovering the efficiency of spider lifts as both a superior alternative to traditional methods and a complementary addition to their existing bucket truck fleets.”