INDUSTRY NEWS

Aug. 1, 1999
NES Acquires Earthmoving, Pump Specialists EVANSTON,III.- National Equipment Services last month announced two recent acquisitions, totaling about $13.5

NES Acquires Earthmoving, Pump Specialists EVANSTON,III.- National Equipment Services last month announced two recent acquisitions, totaling about $13.5 million in rental revenue, CEO Kevin Rodgers told RER.

NES acquired Elite Rentals, based in Mount Bellevue, Texas, with a branch in Port Arthur, Texas. The general rental company has a primary emphasis on earth-moving equipment, with about $10 million in annual rental revenue.

NES also bought Atlanta-based Gould & Associates, which specializes in large pump rentals to industrial and construction customers, with about $3.5 million in annual rental revenue.

Battlefield Shifts to Start-ups in Toronto TORONTO- Battlefield Equipment Rentals recently opened a branch in downtown Toronto, the company's 23rd, president Bill Atwell told RER.

The opening signals a shift in Battlefield's expansion strategy. "We'll still do selective acquisitions, but we want to concentrate on training our own people so we can do as many greenfields as possible," Atwell said. "We're better positioned to do start-ups now. We now have close to 400 employees, so we're [able] to promote from within. That has been our policy, but we hadn't reached that level."

The branch will be a joint facility for Battlefield Equipment and Jobsite Equipment Rentals, a division of Battlefield. The company continues to operate Jobsite, which Battlefield acquired in May 1999, under its own name because it is well-known in the industrial and petrochemical markets, and also specializes in automobile plant shutdowns and turnarounds.

The new branch is a 20,000-square-foot harborfront facility in the heavily industrial east end of Toronto. "We want to service the downtown core and found that it was difficult from our other facilities because of heavy traffic," Atwell said.

Stoney Creek, Ontario-based Battlefield is owned by Toromont Industries, the Caterpillar dealer for the province, and is No. 25 on the RER 100. It now has 17 branches in Ontario and six in Newfoundland.

Lincoln Contractors Supply Buys DCS in Green GREEN BAY, Wis.- Lincoln Con-tractors Supply has acquired Distributors Construction Supply here, giving the former RER 100 company seven locations in the state.

"Green Bay is the third-largest population center in the state and we have under-served that market," said Lincoln president Norman Knief. "The new store will offer a vastly increased product offering in both sales and in the rental fleet."

Founded in 1947 by Joseph Gagnon, DCS will continue to be managed by his sons, Bert and Paul Gagnon, and Dave Whitton.

Lincoln also has branches in Milwaukee (two), Kenosha, Madison, Oshkosh and Wausau, Wis.

Meyer Finalizes RentX Acquisition DENVER- Meyer International completed its purchase last month of RentX Industries for $98.7 million in cash.

Meyer International, a division of Meyer International PLC., parent of the United Kingdom's largest building material supplier, will combine the resources from its Jewson lumber and building materials chain and 150-location Jewson Hire Point and Torex Hire equipment outlets with Denver-basedRentX to increase its presence in the U.S. market.

RentX, No. 16 on the RER 100, will keep its name on its 72 outlets in 11 states, which generated revenues of $46.5 million in 1998.

Anthony Completes Merger with Carlisle WILDER, Ky.- Anthony Crane last month completed its merger with Carlisle Construction Co., a top crane rental company with locations in Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Orlando, Fla. Purchase price was $177.5 million, including the issuance of $20 million of Class B preferred units.

In the past three months, Monroeville, Pa.-based Anthony Crane has purchased Husky Crane Inc. and Dunn Equipment. The company's pro forma revenues and adjusted EBITDA for the 12 months ended March 31, 1999, were $331.2 million and $102.6 million, respectively, including the three acquisitions.