H&E Equipment Services Declines to Offer Revised Proposal for Neff

H&E Equipment Services announced today that it has notified Neff Corp. that it does not intend to submit a revised proposal for the acquisition of Neff, which will permit Neff to terminate H&E’s previously announced agreement to acquired Neff for $21.07 per share.

Michael Roth

Aug. 16, 2017

2 min read

“We will remain disciplined on the price that we pay for assets,” John Engquist, CEO of H&E said. “We intend instead to pursue an accelerated strategy of greenfield expansion and opportunistic roll-up acquisitions which we believe will be a higher and better use of our resources.”

On July 14, H&E Equipment Services and Neff entered into a merger agreement in which H&E would acquire Neff for $21.07 per share, subject to certain downward adjustments. The agreement provided for a “go-shop” period which enabled Neff to pursue other offers until Aug. 20. On Aug. 13, Neff notified H&E that it had received a proposal from a strategic bidder to acquire Neff for $25 per share, and that Neff intends to terminate the merger agreement to enter into an agreement for that proposal. The identity of the bidder has yet to be disclosed.

Neff was bound by the original contract to negotiate in good faith with H&E for five business days. H&E has now waived this period.

Under the merger agreement, Neff is required to pay a termination fee of approximately $13.2 million to H&E if Neff terminates the merger agreement to enter into an agreement for the new proposal.

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.