Top 5 private equity rental acquisitions 2021

15 September 2021

As private equity investment in rental companies continues to gain momentum through 2021, we’ve picked out the five most prominent acquisitions that have occurred throughout the year – find out what companies were involved and how the deals came together

Sagard Private Equity acquires Lou-Tec.
Value: Undisclosed

Earlier this week, LRN reported Lou Tec’s acquisition by private equity firm Sagard Private Equity Canada. The former said that the deal would help achieve its goal of becoming a “major player across the country by 2030”.

As part of the deal, alongside existing Lou-Tec management and shareholders, Sagard has been joined in the acquisition by Canadian private equity firm Walter Capital Partners, by Investissement Québec – which is owned by the government of Quebec - and BDC Capital, the finance arm of Canadian bank BDC.

Markel invests in Buckner HeavyLift.
Value: Undisclosed

Financial holding company Markel has announced its investment of an undisclosed amount in Buckner HeavyLift, a fourth generation crane company based in Graham, North Carolina, USA.

Subject to the usual conditions, the transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021.

Commenting on the deal Doug Williams, Buckner CEO, said, “Buckner is in a position of strength, and our partnership with Markel adds to that. We gain additional support for our growth ambitions yet change nothing about our approach, remaining the humble, hardworking family we have always been. We are excited to continue as managers and owners of this great business knowing this is the right ‘forever’ decision for Buckner.”

TDR Capital and I Squared Capital acquire Temporary power company Aggreko.
Value: £2.3bn

The Scottish company, which is based in Dumbarton near Glasgow and has US headquarters in Houston, has now returned to private ownership and cancelled trading of its shares on 11 August. TDR Capital and I Squared Capital made the joint offer to purchase Aggreko in February.

UK-based TDR owns portable accommodation company Modulaire (previously Algeco), while US firm I Squared, based in Miami, Florida, invests in global infrastructure markets.

Brookfield Business Partners snaps up Modulaire Group.
Value: US$5 billion (€4.18 billion)

Modulaire, which counts Algeco, Portacom Building Solutions, Carter Accommodation, Elliott and Advanté among its subsidiaries, serves industrial, infrastructure and public sector customers across the European and Asia-Pacific regions.

The company’s sale to Brookfield was agreed by its shareholders, specifically its majority owner UK-based private equity firm TDR Capital.

The deal will bring TDR’s involvement in Algeco/Modulaire to a close after 17 years. In 2004 is acquired a two-thirds share of Algeco for €320 million.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management fund agrees deal for Adapteo.
Value: €798 million

The price of SEK165 (€16.2) per share offered by West Street Global Infrastructure Partners IV (WSIP) values the business at SEK 8.1 billion (€798 million) and represents a 53% premium on the closing price on 14 May.

Adapteo’s board unanimously recommended the offer to its shareholders. Its largest shareholder, EQT Public Value Investments, with almost 18% of the shares also accepted the offer.

WSIP initially contact Adapteo in March and made an indicative offer on 1 April. Revised, higher offers were then issued on 22 and 24 April.

Adapteo says its growth this year marks the full effects of its own recent acquisitions in the portable accommodation market.