Ramirent Sells Danish Rental Unit to Denmark’s Largest Rental Company
International rental company Ramirent has signed an agreement to divest its Danish equipment rental business to G.S. V. Materialudlejning A/S, Denmark’s largest equipment rental company for approximately €33 million (about U.S. $37.5 million). The deal is expected to close early in 2019, and is subject to customary closing conditions and approval of competition authorities.
Ramirent’s 130 employees in Denmark will continue their employment in the sold business once the transaction is finalized, the company said. The divested operations will be reported as discontinued operations in the fourth quarter of 2018. The transaction is expected to have only a minor impact on Ramirent’s financial results.
“I am confident that our Danish team, that has made a respectable turnaround in profitability in recent years, will find a good, long-term home as part of G.S.V.,” said Tapio Kolunsarka, president and CEO of Ramirent plc. “At the same time, Ramirent can focus on its strategy to seek profitable growth capital efficiently in its core equipment rental business.”
“G.S.V. has grown significantly over recent years and by acquiring Ramirent in Denmark, we continue to increase our relevance to customers and further strengthen our business,” said Dan Vorsholt, CEO of G.S.V. “We look forward welcoming the Ramirent employees into the G.S.V. family.”
After the divestment, Ramirent will have four segments and will continue to operate in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Ramirent also operates in Russia and Ukraine through a 50-percent owned joint venture called Fortrent.
Ramirent, headquartered in Vantaa, Finland, has 300 customer centers and 2,900 employees. Ramirent totaled €724 million in revenue in 2017.
G.S.V. Materialudlejning A/S was founded in 1964 and is one of the oldest rental companies in Denmark. It is majority owned by a Danish private equity fund CataCap and has a wide product portfolio focused on light and heavy equipment, with and without operators GSV has 390 employees in Denmark and had €115 million in volume in 2017.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.