While the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continued to dominate the news, those in the equipment and event rental industry appeared to be ready to resume merger and acquisition activity. Herc Holdings and Sunbelt Rentals made numerous deals throughout the year and one United Rentals acquisition came with a $1 billion price tag. Here are the top rental news stories from the past year.
Mergers and acquisitions
January
Event Essentials, a division of A to Z RentAll & Sales, Madison, Wis., acquires A La Crate Rentals, Monona, Wis.
Herc Holdings, Bonita Springs, Fla., acquires substantially all the assets of Champion Rentals, Houston.
Holt Cat®, San Antonio, acquires Sullair of Houston.
The Home Depot®, Atlanta, completes the acquisition of HD Supply Holdings, Atlanta.
February
Sunbelt Rentals, Fort Mill, S.C., acquires DC Rentals in Connecticut.
March
National Trench Safety, Houston, and Trench Plate Rental Co., Artesia, Calif., agree to merge. The combined company will be majority-owned by Tailwind Capital.
Sunbelt Rentals acquires Harford Rental Service in Maryland.
April
Sunbelt Rentals acquires American Aerial Equipment in Massachusetts; Ross Aerial Equipment in Arizona; and Tomcon Industries in New York.
United Rentals, Stamford, Conn., completes two deals including a $1 billion definitive agreement to acquire General Finance Corp., Pasadena, Calif. United Rentals also acquires Franklin Equipment, Groveport, Ohio.
May
Rental Equipment Investment Corp., Miami, purchases Rent Me Rentals, Cle Elum, Wash.
Sunbelt Rentals acquires Randall Industries in Illinois and Indiana.
Sunbelt Canada acquires Island Equipment Rentals in British Columbia.
June
Sunbelt Rentals acquires Iron Equipment Rental in Ohio.
July
Sunbelt Rentals acquires National Drying Technologies in Florida and Georgia, and Special Event Service & Rental in Tennessee and Nevada.
August
Herc Holdings, operating as Herc Rentals, completes the acquisition of substantially all the assets of CBS Rentals, Spring, Texas.
Sunbelt Rentals acquires Lloyd’s Rental & Sales in Pennsylvania and Bedrock Tool & Equipment Co. in Ohio.
September
Herc Holdings, operating as Herc Rentals, acquires Dwight Crane and its U.S. affiliate LRX.
Sunbelt Rentals acquires 202 Rent All in Pennsylvania.
October
H&E Equipment Services completes the sale of the company’s crane business to a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Manitowoc Co., Milwaukee.
Herc Holdings, operating as Herc Rentals, enters an agreement to acquire Rapid Equipment Rental, Toronto.
Sunbelt Rentals acquires Atlas Aerials & Equipment in Illinois and Action Rental Holdings, Action Equipment Rentals and Action Rentals Trench Shoring & Supply — a general tool business in Florida, Georgia and Louisiana.
November
Herc Holdings acquires substantially all the assets of Reliable Equipment, Londonderry, N.H. Herc also acquires SkyKing Lift Rentals, Bensenville, Ill.
December
Sunbelt Rentals acquires Mahaffey USA, Memphis, Tenn., a leader of temporary and semi-permanent structures. The consumer party- and event-focused Mahaffey Event and Tent Rentals is not part of the transaction and will remain a stand-alone business serving the special events market in Memphis and the mid-south.
Business expansion
January
Sunstate Equipment, Phoenix, opens the Timothy J. Meenk Training Center as part of its expanded service center campus in Phoenix.
Ziegler Cat, Minneapolis, opens new rental store in Dayton, Minn.
February
Altorfer Rents, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, The Cat Rental Store, opens a new rental facility in Naperville, Ill.
Durante Rentals, New Rochelle, N.Y., opens a new full-service rental facility in Carmel, N.Y.
March
H&E Equipment Services opens a branch in Lodi, Calif., and Concord, N.C.
The Home Depot Rental opens rental operations facilities (ROFs) in Houston and Nashville, Tenn.
April
H&E Equipment Services opens locations in Murfreesboro and Knoxville Tenn.; Longview, Texas; and Macon and Marietta, Ga.
Cross Country Infrastructure Services, Aurora, Colo., opens a new location in Carrizo Springs, Texas.
Lowe’s, Mooresville, N.C., expands its tool rental program to Beaumont and Pearland, Texas.
Preston Rentals, Las Vegas, opens new branch in Littleton, Colo.
June
Hawthorne Cat, San Diego, opens new store in Oceanside, Calif.
Rental Solutions and Events, Eldersburg, Md., adds a National Structure Solutions division.
July
Cross Country Infrastructure Services opens a new location in Belle Fourche, S.D.
Rental Equipment Investment Corp., through its wholly owned subsidiary RE Investment Co., opens a new specialty equipment rental location in Murray, Utah.
August
H&E Equipment Services opens new Kansas City, Mo., branch.
September
Rent Equip, Austin, Texas, opens new branch in Marble Falls, Texas.
October
American Rentals, Long Beach, Calif., opens a branch in Stanton, Calif.
H&E Equipment Services opens a new rental branch in Ogden, Utah.
Sammons Industrial launches SitePro Rentals, Dallas, with nine locations in Texas, Louisiana and Georgia.
Rental Equipment Investment Corp., through its wholly owned subsidiary RE Investment Co., opens a new specialty equipment rental location in Tualatin, Ore.
November
McCoy Group, Dubuque, Iowa, purchases eight John Deere Construction and Forestry stores serving Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky from Erb Equipment Co., Fenton, Mo.
Other news
January
Terry Dolan, president and CEO of Custom Equipment, Richfield, Wis., begins transitioning to a board of director’s role.
February
Atlas Copco Power Technique, Rock Hill, S.C., names Mikael Andersson as president of the Power and Flow division.
Durante Rentals names Steve Durante as the chief sales officer.
Hawthorne Cat names David Ness as president and CEO for all Hawthorne Cat divisions, San Diego.
June
Linda Jones, CERP, and her husband, Bob, decide to sell their business — Area Rent-Alls in Westminster, Colo.— to Arapahoe Rental and retire.
Durante Rentals enters into a partnership with the International Union of Operating Engineers.
The Home Depot starts offering “Rent Online, Pick-up In Store” technology at its 1,300 rental locations.
Terry Norris and Dale Rundell, who have been running the Safe Way Rental Equipment Co., Austin, Texas, since 1988, decide to retire and close the business.
July
Sarah Picking owner of Abilene Rent-All & Sales, Abilene, Kan., retires from the ownership role at her family’s rental operation.
September
BakerCorp, Seal Beach, Calif., a fluid solution provider, rebrands under the United Rentals, Stamford, Conn., name.
November
EventWorks, Charleston, S.C., merged with Peachtree Tents & Events, Atlanta; Event Rentals Unlimited, Birmingham, Ala.; and Music City Tents, Nashville, Tenn.; in 2017 and is now rebranding the locations.
John Campanelli, CEO of Chicago’s InProduction, announces plans to retire on Jan. 1, 2022.