Sterling Crane, an Edmonton, Alberta, Canada-based crane rental company primarily owned by Berkshire Hathaway, a private equity group headed by billionaire Warren Buffet, has agreed to acquire Western Australia-based Freo Crane, and its Queensland subsidiary Global Crane. The deal, reported by Cranes Today, would create a crane fleet of more than 800 units active on three continents.
Sterling Crane, which has 23 branches in the United States and Canada, is owned by Marmon Construction Services, part of the Berkshire Hathaway Investment firm. Sterling has branches in Denver, Fort Collins and Grand Junction, Colo.; Elko, Nev.; Williston, N.D.; Montoursville, Pa.; Regina and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada; Red Deer, Edmonton, Fort Saskatchewan, Grand Prairie and Fort McMurray, Alberta; Prince George, Kamloops, Fort St. John and Vancouver, B.C.; Sault Ste. Marie, Sarnia, and Brantford, Ontario; and Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Sterling is involved in the oil and gas business to a large extent, with facilities near the Alberta oil sands region, and the Bakken and Marcellus shale projects in the U.S. Freo has also profited from the oil and gas, and mining booms in Western Australia and Queensland.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
