11.04.2011

United Rentals acquires in Canada

United Rentals is to take over Venetor Group, a seven-location equipment rental company based in Stoney Creek near Hamilton, Ontario.

The group includes Venetor Crane and Venetor Equipment a substantial part of whcih is the rental of aerial lifts and mobile cranes, the aerial fleet is largely Skyjack and Genie, while the crane fleet is mostly Grove, including its 550 ton ‘flagship’ GMK7550.

Five of the locations are in Ontario, one in Manitoba and one in Saskatchewan. The acquisition is being made through the company’s Canadian subsidiary, with completion subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions contained in the definitive purchase agreement.
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Venetor's 550 ton Grove GMK7550 in action

Family-owned Venetor was founded in 1975 and claims to be the largest independently owned equipment rental company in Ontario. In addition to cranes and access equipment the company runs general fleet including telehandlers, compressors and earthmoving equipment.

United’s chief executive Michael Kneeland said: “Upon completion, the acquisition of Venetor Group will significantly expand our position in central Canada, a marketplace with attractive growth dynamics. We are particularly delighted that Alvi Beraldo, Tom Beraldo and Dennis Beraldo, will bring their decades of experience to United Rentals, and continue to play an active role in growing the business. Venetor’s commitment to superior service and its focus on industrial customers complements our own strategy and customer focus.”

Vertikal Comment

This is an interesting acquisition for United and takes the company into operated crane rental, a type of rental business that the company appears to have generally avoided in the past.

It will be interesting to see how it handles this part of the business, given that the current managements is staying with the company, one assumes that it will maintain Venetor’s product mix, although it may well decide to divest itself of the crane business?