Former Ingersoll-Rand Executive Henkel Named Non-Executive Chairman of HERC
Former Ingersoll-Rand chairman and CEO Herbert Henkel was named non-executive chairman for the equipment rental business of Hertz Global Holdings as part of ongoing preparations for its planned separation as a stand-alone, publicly traded company later this year. Hertz Equipment Rental Corp. is the third largest equipment rental business in North America.
Henkel was Ingersoll-Rand’s CEO from 1999 until he retired in February 2010, and he served as chairman of the board from 2000 until June 2010. Henkel has extensive public company board member experience and is currently a director for 3M, where he serves as chairman of the audit committee, as well as The Allstate Corp. and C.R. Bard Inc. Henkel served as lead director on C.R. Bard’s board from 2012 through May 2015 and currently is chairman of the compensation committee. He previously was a director at AT&T Corp., Visteon Corp. and Pitney Bowes.
“Herb Henkel has had a long and distinguished career in the equipment business,” said John Tague, Hertz president and CEO. “His experience, insight and guidance will be invaluable to HERC as it continues to transform its business. As a result of his executive roles and prior board positions at several Fortune 500 corporations, Herb will provide board strategic oversight as board chairman as well as a deep understanding of board responsibilities and a focus on creating shareholder value. His commitment is an important first step in assembling a board of directors for this new company and is another significant milestone in our effecting HERC’s separation.”
Henkel also held leadership roles at Textron, including president and chief operating officer.
“Herb Henkel’s experience and perspective will be enormously valuable as we emerge as an independent public company,” said HERC president and CEO Larry Silber. “We look forward to working with Herb as we continue advancing initiatives to enhance customer service, expand and diversify our revenues, and improve operating efficiencies to generate value for our shareholders.”
Hertz expects the separation of HERC from Hertz to be completed by mid-2016. HERC plans to be known as Herc Rentals following its separation from Hertz.
HERC’s 2015 total revenues were $1.5 billion with adjusted corporate EBITDA of $610 million.
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.