Rental Equipment Investment Corp. Acquires Construction Heaters Inc.
Rental Equipment Investment Corp. has purchased the assets and business of Construction Heaters Inc., based in Minneapolis. CHI is a specialty equipment rental company focused on the rental of heaters, air conditioners, coolers, fans and dehumidifiers. CHI started operations 35 years ago and operates over a 19-state region out of three offices: in Minneapolis, Seattle and Denver.
REIC is an equipment rental holding company operating 25 general rental stores in seven states. REIC operates its stores under several brand names each of which is a leading local rental operator in their respective area. This is REIC’s eleventh acquisition since its inception in October of 2014 and continues REIC’s plan to purchase well-run locally operated rental companies.
“We are excited to complete the purchase of CHI,” said Kevin Fitzgerald, CEO of REIC. “As a specialty rental company CHI will complement REIC’s general rental stores and we expect significant cross-selling opportunities among the respective customer bases. CHI’s management team will continue to operate the company and the CHI name will be maintained. REIC will look to expand CHI’s footprint across the country and to add more rental fleet to its existing locations.”
David Obee, owner of CHI added, “Having started CHI 35 years ago I am proud to be able to complete the sale of the company and I want to thank all of my employees, customers and suppliers for their work over the past years in building CHI into what it is today. With REIC as the new owner of CHI I am confident that the legacy and quality of services that we have provided all these years will continue.”
For more on CHI, visit: www.constructionheatersinc.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.