Boels Rentals Acquires Specialist Rental Companies in U.K. and Sweden
Boels group has acquired two rental companies to expand its specialist rental divisions in Sweden and the United Kingdom. Boels this week announced the acquisition of KraftX AB, a specialist in power rental and backup power for industrial, construction and infrastructure sites and electric power distribution. KraftX AB will become part of Cramo, Boels’ subsidiary in Sweden. Also, last week Boels acquired Illumin8, a leading UK light tower rental specialist.
The acquisition of KraftX complements Cramo's capabilities in terms of both products and expertise in a business area that is growing in importance for the company.
"The acquisition of KraftX is an important part of our continued growth journey," said Henrik Norrbom, managing director, Cramo Sweden. "We have a long-standing and successful relationship with KraftX where our different abilities complement each other in a number of different projects and commitments. Together we can offer the market an even better range of products, expertise and sustainable productivity solutions."
KraftX operates nine branches and serves customers all over Sweden.
Expansion of lighting tower offering in UK
Illumin8 is a lighting tower specialist with customers across varied industries such as construction, events, civil engineering, rail, and television and film production. Asif Latief, managing director, Boels Rental UK, said: “We are very happy to welcome Neil Fenwick and the Illumin8 team to the Boels family. Boels has worked alongside Illumin8 for a number of years on very high-profile projects and events, and their product range, expertise and service levels are second to none.”
Illumin8 has forged a reputation built on providing high quality products and customer service and this culture fits perfectly with Boels’ principles, the company said. With the acquisition of illumin8, Boels can now add lighting tower rental to its UK specialist divisions.
Further growth
Boels Group aims to scale up its market positions by offering a continuously expanding one-stop-shop solution to its customers. That includes general rental and specialist rental solutions.
“Acquiring expertise, fleet and market share is important to scale up our business,” said Pierre Boels, CEO, Boels Rental group. “Both internally for economies of scale and externally by adding value to our customers.“
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.