January 1, 2023
As the equipment and event rental industry continues to bounce back from the effects of the pandemic, mergers and acquisitions dominated the industry’s news. The year ended with United Rentals finalizing its acquisition of Ahern Rentals for $2 billion in December. Several of the country’s largest equipment rental businesses also reported record revenue throughout 2022. Here are the top rental news stories from the past year.
Mergers and acquisitions
January
CMG Ventures, parent company of Best Rent‐All and Best Tents & Events, Durham, N.C., acquires TCS Event Rentals and Piedmont Portables, in Burlington, N.C.
Herc Rentals, Bonita Springs, Fla., acquires Temp-Power, Manassas, Va.
Kinderhook Industries, New York, acquires Rental Equipment Investment Corp. (REIC), Kalispell, Mont.
Nor-Val Rentals, Armstrong, British Columbia, Canada, acquires West Equipment Rentals, West Kelowna, British Columbia.
Orlando Wedding and Party Rentals, Orlando, recapitalizes with EventWorks, Charleston, S.C.
Sunbelt Rentals, Fort Mill, S.C., acquires Priority Equipment Rental in Pennsylvania.
February
Collective Event Group, Dover, Del., acquires Parties & More and rebrands all acquired locations.
EventWorks acquires Crush Event Design, Charleston.
RentalMax, Carol Stream, Ill., acquires Regional Rentals & Sales, Hobart, Ind.
Sunbelt Rentals acquires Total Equipment Rental in California; California High Reach & Equipment Rental in California; and the entire share capital of ComRent Holdings in California, Illinois, Maryland, Texas and Ontario, Canada.
March
Party Reflections, Charlotte, N.C., acquires the assets of Old South Collection, Catawba, N.C.
Sunbelt Rentals acquires D&D Lift and Reach Solutions II in California; Bondservant.Life, trading as CBB Sales & Rental, in Alabama; and Baker Rentals and Sales and Baker Party Rentals, in California.
April
Hugg & Hall Equipment Co., Little Rock, Ark., acquires Southern Material Handling Co., Tulsa, Okla.
PRO EM National Event Services, Phoenix, acquires Kirby Rentals, Orlando.
RentalMax acquires A to Z RentAll and Sales, Madison, Wis.
May
REIC acquires Total Construction Rentals, Wilmington, Del., and Cahill Services, Livonia, Mich.
Sunbelt Rentals acquires the power rental division of Filmwerks in North Carolina and Mashburn Equipment in Georgia.
June
ABLE Equipment Rental, Deer Park, N.Y., purchases the equipment rental assets and service operations of Elite Construction Rentals, Wallingford, Conn.
First Place Rental, Oswego, Ill., acquires Aide Rental & Sales, South Chicago Heights, Ill., and Highland, Ind.
Sunbelt Rentals acquires Amos Metz Rentals & Sales in California and George’s Tool Rental in Pennsylvania. Sunbelt Rentals in Canada acquires MacFarlands in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Canada.
July
ABLE Equipment Rental acquires the equipment rental assets and service operations of Extreme Rentals USA, Manassas, Va.
Alta Equipment Group, Livonia, Mich., agrees to acquire Yale Industrial Trucks, Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada.
Cooper Equipment Rentals, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, acquires One Stop Rentals/Sales, Airdrie, Alberta, Canada.
Ideal Rent-All, Mount Vernon, Wash., acquires Pacific Party Canopies, Burlington, Wash.
Skyworks, Buffalo, N.Y., acquires the Midland, Texas, location of Razor Rents.
Sunbelt Rentals acquires Milford Rent-All in Maine; R&N Tool Rental in Indiana; Chump Management, trading as Power Equipment Rental in Utah; Harmar Contractors Equipment in Pennsylvania; and A-V Equipment Rentals in California.
August
National Trench Safety, Houston, acquires Vellano Shoring and Supply, Buffalo and Albany, N.Y.
Sunbelt Rentals acquires Rental Country in New Jersey; R.J. Lalonde in California; and Alaska Pacific Rental in Alaska. Sunbelt Rentals in Canada acquires the entire share capital of Compact Rentals in Alberta, Canada.
Texas First Rentals®, San Antonio, a division of HOLT, acquires Class A Equipment Rentals, Fredericksburg, Texas.
September
CES Power, Memphis, Tenn., acquires Brickworks, San Diego.
REIC acquires Blackout Energy Services, Williston, N.D.
Sunbelt Rentals acquires Tel-Power Tool & Equipment Rental and Rent Mart in Pennsylvania. Sunbelt Rentals in Canada acquires the entire share capital of Flagro Industries in Ontario, Canada, and Xtreme Rentals in Alberta.
October
Alta Equipment Group acquires Ecoverse Industries, Avon, Ohio.
H&E Equipment Services (H&E), Baton Rouge, La., acquires One Source Equipment Rental, Plainfield, Ill.
Herc Rentals purchases All-Star Rents, Naples, Fla.
Leppo Rents, Kent, Ohio, acquires Rent Equip, Medina, Ohio.
Sunbelt Rentals acquires Runjesnor, Limited Partnership (Bilt Rite) in Texas; Comeback Rentals in South Carolina; Presbone Corp. d/b/a Pinellas Rental Center in Florida; Meco Miami in Florida; and Heater Rental Services in Minnesota.
November
Sunbelt Rentals acquires Wagner Rental & Supply in Ohio.
December
Texas First Rentals, San Antonio, acquires Rental One, Colleyville, Texas.
United Rentals, Stamford, Conn., acquires Ahern Rentals, Las Vegas.
Business expansion
February
H&E opens a new branch in Fairburn, Ga.
T3 Event Rentals, Alpharetta, Ga., moves to a new, larger location.
March
H&E opens a new branch in Philadelphia.
LoneStar Outdoor Power Equipment & Rental, Onalaska, Texas, opens new Cleveland, Texas, branch.
April
4-Horn Investments, Houston, creates 4-Horn Traffic & Barricade.
Air Compressor Solutions, Odessa, Texas, opens branch in Albuquerque, N.M.
Fabick Rents, Wentzville, Mo., opens a new location in Rolla, Mo.
H&E opens a new branch in El Dorado, Ark.
May
Vandalia Rental, Vandalia, Ohio, opens in Columbus, Ohio.
June
H&E opens Lakeland, Fla., branch.
August
Bottom Line Equipment, Broussard, La., expands into Dallas Fort-Worth area.
H&E opens a San Antonio branch.
Timp Rental Center, Orem, Utah, opens a new location in Saratoga Springs, Utah.
Tool Rental Depot, Salisbury, N.C., opens new location in Albemarle, N.C.
September
Cooke Rentals opens a new location in Maiden, N.C.
H&E opens new branches in Hollywood, Fla.; Indio, Calif.; and New Castle, Del.
December
H&E opens Ocala, Fla., branch.
Other news
January
LGMG North America, Chambersburg, Pa., names Eric Liner as president and CEO.
March
Steve Reitter and his son, Stephen, open Steves Rental in Millis, Mass., as co-owners.
April
Sunbelt Rentals expands its electric on-road fleet.
May
United Rentals enters an agreement to purchase all-electric vehicles for its North American fleets.
July
Party Time Rentals, College Station, Texas, rebrands to Premiere Events.
August
CE Rentals, Raleigh, N.C., rebrands under a new name — Curated Events.
October
AFR Furniture Rental, Pennsauken, N.J., names Tricia Schmitt as president and chief revenue officer.
November
HOLT Industrial Rentals, a HOLT company, San Antonio, is launched.
Top 10 most read Rental Pulse articles in 2022
- United Rentals to acquire Ahern Rentals for $2 billion
- Congress proposes additional $13 billion for hard hit small businesses
- Herc Holdings reports company record-setting rental revenue
- RentalMax acquires A to Z RentAll, expands to Wisconsin
- Georgia equipment rental operators get additional tax relief
- RentalMax acquires Regional Rentals & Sales, expands to Indiana
- Hitachi showcases excavators at press event
- Sunbelt Rentals orders 700 Ford F-150 Lightning trucks
- New costly cybercrimes hitting rental companies
- Sunbelt Rentals acquires George’s Tool Rental
