Top rental acquisitions of 2023

Carrying on from an active 2022, rental companies have continued to expand their portfolios with several acquisitions over the last 12 months. The number, and indeed the amount spent on these acquisitions, point towards a healthy market.

With that in mind, IRN has selected just some of the acquisitions completed by rental companies throughout 2023. 

Top rental acquisitions of 2023

Zeppelin in site services acquisition

Zeppelin Group boosted its Zeppelin Rental business with the acquisition of Bauhof Service GmbH in Stuttgart back in August.

Bauhof, based in Pliensbach south east of Stuttgart, rents pumps and generators and well as providing logistical services for construction sites, including power, lighting, water supply, transport and storage. It employs more than 25 people.

CW Plant makes first acquisition in Australia

Australian Boom & Scissor Lift (ABS) is based in Sydney, New South Wales. (Photo: ABS)

UK-based equipment rental company Charles Wilson Engineers (CW Plant) made the move into Australia in 2023 with the purchase of Australian Boom & Scissor Lift (ABS) in Sydney, New South Wales.

Founded in 1997, ABS provides a powered access service across metropolitan Sydney as well as long-term rental solutions in the Blue Mountains, Wollongong, Central Coast and Newcastle.

Loxam makes further acquisition Brazil

Loxam agreed to acquire Brazillian temporary power generation specialist A Geradora Aluguel De Máquinas (A Geradora) in July. Founded in 1989, A Geradora offers a range of back-up and off-grid power from 15 branches in Brazil. The company employs 650 people.

It was the second acquisition in Brazil that Loxam completed in a matter of months, adding to the purchase of Motormac Rental in May, a specialist in access, power generation and lighting towers.

Phoenix acquisition for H&E

The average age of Precision’s rental fleet is 37 months. (Photo: Precision)

In December, H&E Equipment Services agreed to buy Precision Rentals, a two-location rental business based in El Mirage in Phoenix, Arizona.

Precision, which has a second depot in Denver, Colorado, has a mixed general rentals fleet with an original cost of approximately $70 million. The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2024.

Sime Darby buys major Australian rental company

2023 saw Sime Darby acquire Onsite Rental Group, one of the largest rental businesses in Australia, for A$635 million (€402 million).

Onsite reported revenues of A$302.1 million (€191 million) in the year to 30 June 2022, with profits after tax of A$33.0 million (€21 million) and EBITDA profit of A$121.7 million (€77.1 million). It employs around 500 people and has a network of 39 locations in the country. Sime Darby will now have a €300 million rental operation in Australia.

Mollo acquires Tuscan rental firm

Italian rental company Mollo Noleggio acquired Tuscany-based Edilservice at the beginning of December. Edilservice has been active in the region for more than 30 years and specialises in the rental of machinery and equipment for construction, including earthmoving, road and lifting, compaction and compressors.

Mollo Noleggio said the acquisition is part of a wider growth strategy to purchase “competent and reliable companies with consolidated experience, deeply rooted in their original territory, and sharing the same values”.

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Dingli to fully acquire MEC

In November, Dingli said it was to fully acquire US-based MEC Aerial Work Platforms, in a deal that will initially see it extend the 25% share it currently has in the company to nearly 50%.

MEWP specialist MEC and Dingli became manufacturing partners in 2016 before the relationship was enhanced with the minority ownership stake in 2018. Dingli’s further investment in MEC brings its total ownership to 49.8%.

CES Power acquires event rentals competitor

CES Power rents power and temperature control equipment to the live events sector. (Photo: CES website)

CES Power acquired Infinite Power, a competitor serving the mid-Atlantic states, in August. The deal includes Infinite’s sister companies, audio visual and broadcast specialists Showcall and MHA Audio, and event security company Checkmate Global.

The deal will give CES Power a new hub in the Washington DC and Baltimore area.

Atlas Copco acquires major Australian pump specialist

Atlas Copco acquired National Pump & Energy (NPE), a major pump, power and compressor rental and sales business in Australia and New Zealand. The company employs 420 staff and generated revenues of SEK1.4 billion (€138 million) in 2022.

The deal, which closed during the second quarter of 2023, saw NPE become part of the Specialty Rental Division within the Power Technique Business Area of Atlas Copco.

Hitachi buys French dealer

HCME President Takaharu Ikeda (left) with Cobemat owner Xavier Beaulieu. (Photo: HCME)

In February, Hitachi acquired its French dealer Cobemat SAS, a deal which included its two subsidiaries, Cobeloc and MTS.

Hitachi said the agreement was a sign of its ambitions to expand its sales and rental network in France, the third largest market in Europe. As part of the strategy, Cobemat will establish a direct rental business.