17.01.2014

RiRent to wind down

JLG and Riwal owner ProDelta are to wind down their jointly held aerial lift and telehandler re-rent business RiRent Europe.

RiRent operates from Riwal premises in Dordrecht, and has offered a full range of JLG aerial work platforms and telescopic material handlers on a wholesale rental base for well over 10 years.

The business was established by the owners of Riwal - which originally comprised members of the Schalekamp family and Doron Livnat, but is now exclusively owned by Livnat’s Pro Delta Investment Partners – and JLG, which each holding a 50 percent stake. Ri-Rent took over from an earlier wholly owned Riwal re-rental operation in order to expand at a more rapid rate and was responsible for some of JLG’s largest orders in the mid-2000s.

RiRent will now focus on existing contracts and cease to accept new clients, but will continue to operate for at least as long as there are existing rental contracts in force. These contracts shall be managed in the normal course of business, until their natural expiration.

In a joint statement Karel Huijser JLG’s managing director Europe region and ProDelta chief executive Willem Ledeboer said: “After a longstanding relationship of more than 15 years of cooperation in the RiRent business, today’s market circumstances as well as the market position and operations of ProDelta and JLG have changed significantly requiring us to re-focus our business efforts. JLG and ProDelta will continue to offer their services to their respective customer bases independently and we shall continue to collaborate as good business partners.”
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RiRent offers JLG lifts and telehandlers on a wholesale rental basis

Vertikal Comment

RiRent was established to build on a re-rental initiative established in the Netherlands by Riwal over 15 years ago. The idea was that the new business, 50 percent owned by the Schalekamp’s and Doron Livnat and 50 percent by JLG would continue to operate out of the Riwal base in Dordrecht, with Riwal initially providing the logistical support etc, but expand all over Europe, helping rental companies to supplement their fleets in order to quote for large contracts or to source larger or specialist machines that they would be hard to justify investing in themselves.

The process also created a good source of used equipment and helped JLG penetrate developing markets and support rental customers with their growth plans. When we first reported on RiRent it was hard to image that it would still be going strong in 2014. It was a clearly a venture of its time and has on the whole been very successful.

The market for aerial lifts though has, changed beyond all recognition as it has matured and while the recent recession may have given the concept a boost, it makes sense now to gradually bring it to a close at least as a manufacturer’s joint venture.

It is perhaps surprising that Pro-Delta did not simply buy out JLG’s share in the business, but it maybe that winding it down gracefully is the better way for both parties.