CES Power Acquires Base Craft, Launches Studio Services Division
CES Power LLC, a leading global provider of infrastructure for live events, has acquired Base Craft LLC, a provider of high-quality specialty services and equipment for the motion picture industry. Concurrent with the acquisition, CES announced the launch of CES Studio Services, a new division dedicated to providing bundled solutions for film, television and the broadcast industry. CES Studio Services will seek additional opportunities and partnerships to build upon this strategic platform.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. CES, a provider of turnkey services including sustainable mobile power, distribution, temperature control, WiFi, and networking solutions, is backed by Allied Industrial Partners.
Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., and with facilities across six states, Base Craft’s on-site equipment includes production trailers, trucks, basecamp, power generation, battery storage and HVAC equipment. This includes passenger vehicles, truck and tractor rentals, as well as solar trailers for hair and makeup, wardrobe, camera and sound, and various other production equipment.
The entire Base Craft management team, including Jeffrey Gowing, Hunter Andrews, Welch Lambeth, and Aaron Pigg, will join the CES Studio Services leadership team.
“We are excited to welcome Jeff, Hunter, Welch, Aaron, and the entire Base Craft team as we aim to become the provider of choice for the television and motion picture industry in North America,” said Greg Landa, CEO of CES. “Our scale, footprint, team, industry experience and breadth of quality equipment distinguishes CES Studio Services in a fragmented market. CES Studio Services, backed by the full capabilities of the CES organization worldwide, is now the one-stop shop for all essential services, regardless of the scope and scale of the production.”
“We are pleased to become part of the CES family and look forward to future growth opportunities,” said Gowing. “CES’s experience and resources will add to our product line and strengthen our ability to service both new and existing partners and clients.”
Base Craft is CES’s 13th acquisition since being acquired by Allied in June 2021, and CES will continue to actively seek further add-on acquisitions in areas of strategic interest.
“The acquisition of Base Craft and the creation of CES Studio Services are significant milestones in the CES strategic growth story,” said Bradford Rossi and Philip Wright, co-founders and managing partners at Allied. “The film industry is a natural fit with CES’ live entertainment business, and we believe this new division is ripe for growth. Base Craft provides additional competencies and vital locations that will help CES further expand its footprint and achieve its goal of becoming a leading player in its industry.”
For more information about CES, visit www.cespower.com.
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.