30.08.2011

Loxam to acquire Locarest

French based rental company Loxam is in negotiations to acquire regional rental company Locarest from its principal owners EPF Partners.

The negotiations with EPF and family shareholders are on an exclusive basis and should be concluded within the next few weeks.

Locarest had revenues last year of around €48 million and operates from 66 locations, mostly in eastern France, including Alsace, Lorraine, Champagne-Ardenne, Franche-Comté, Bourgogne, Rhône-Alpes, Languedoc-Roussillon, Paris and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.
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The company is a general rental company but operates a fleet of telehandlers and a fairly comprehensive range of aerial lifts and scaffold towers. It lists Manitou as a major supplier/partner.

If the negotiations are successfully concluded Loxam plans to merge Locarest with its Loueurs de France business, one of three networks that Loxam operates in France, the other two being Laho Equipment and Loxam Rental. It says that the combination will create another national rental player with 115 branches, as the two operations have largely complimentary networks.
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The Locarest management team led by Pascal Burg is expected to stay on board after the merger.

Locarest was founded in 1957 as Sirco a division of Strasbourg based Sirmat, the Locarest brand came along in 1970. EPF Partners invested and bought into the business in August 2006, since when a number of new depots have been opened as the business expanded.

Vertikal Comment

The addition of Locarest will take Loxam’s revenues up over £750 million keeping its well ahead of its rivals. However it adds to the significant location overlap that Loxam already has in France and increases its dependence on its home market. Perhaps no bad thing given the stability the French economy has shown in recent years.

Locarest will further strengthen Loxam’s leadership in France taking its market share to well over 25 percent and possibly closer to 30 percent. In spite of this it is not expected to be subject to any competition investigation.