30.06.2011

Ramirent acquires Hyrman i Lund

Finnish based international rental company Ramirent has acquired Hyrman i Lund a seven location rental company in southern Sweden.

Hyrman rents a wide range of equipment including alloy scaffold towers, aerial work platforms and telescopic handlers. Revenues last year were around €15 million.

one of the leading machinery rental companies in Southern Sweden. With operations in seven locations, the company has annual net sales of about EUR 15 million with 44 employees. The acquisition is one of the largest Ramirent has made in Sweden.

Founded in 2000 in Lund- north of Malmö, the company has outlets in Helsingborg, Halmstad, Kristianstad, Lund, Ystad, Malmö and Landskrona, providing solid coverage of the Halland and Scania regions. Its customers are largely come from the construction, civil engineering and industrial sectors.

Peter Dahlsten senior vice president of Ramirent Sweden said: ”I am happy to welcome Hyrman i Lund into the Ramirent team. The acquisition complements our current outlet network. We now have a much better coverage in Southern Sweden and will be closer to our customers. The vision and objectives of Hyrman match ours very well. The acquisition brings us new competencies and strengthens our service level and local presence.”

Johnny Svensson, Hyrman’s managing director, added: ”We began looking for a bigger partner and Ramirent turned out to be the best candidate. Our operations have developed well, but we needed bigger muscles in order to take the next step and to meet the growth expectations of the industry. We believe that this is a good solution for our employees and our company.”
Ramirent is the second largest rental company in Sweden with annual revenues of €145 million and 80 outlets.

Vertikal Comment

This looks like a good move for Ramirent in that the product range and business mentality appear to be a good fit, while the new business adds product, customers and useful locations with some very good local knowledge.
It would seem that Ramirent and fellow Finn Cramo are in some kind of race to lock firmly into the number two spot among European rental groups, possibly with eyes firmly on catching up with Europe’s largest rental company Loxam.

It is clear that both companies believe that the recent recession is now fading fast and that we are now entering a new growth phase that due to its slow pace could last for many years. As such they are both investing heavily while acquisition prices remain muted as well as ensuring that the bulk of their spend is made at the start of the cycle. Will others such as Loxam and Lavendon join in a new scramble for European rental consolidation?

Interesting times

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