The Kiloutou Group, one of Europe’s largest equipment rental companies, has acquired KDM Hire, an equipment rental company in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. For Kiloutou, based in France, the acquisition is its 10th since October 2024.
Kiloutou, which recently established itself in Denmark and Portugal in 2022, now operates in seven countries.
KDM Hire was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Cookstown, Northern Ireland, and, according to Kiloutou, is a market leader in Northern Ireland and is experiencing rapid growth in the Republic of Ireland.
KDM Hire has a diverse fleet of more than 10,000 assets with expertise in modular construction (site accommodation), power generation, lifting and material handling. The company relies on a network of seven strategically located branches, including in Belfast, Dublin and Cork, serving a customer base ranging from major construction contractors to the pharmaceutical industry and event organizers.
KDM has an annual volume of approximately £36 million, and a staff of about 240.
The acquisition allows Kiloutou to establish a foothold in the Irish market, driven by massive public investment plans in infrastructure (notably the National Development Plan ‘Project Ireland 2040’) and growing demand in the energy and data center sectors. Kiloutou will draw on the expertise of KDM Hire’s teams to accelerate the company’s development, notably through the opening of new branches, the expansion of its product range and investments in low-carbon equipment.
The management team, currently led by Michael Donnelly, will continue to lead the company through this new phase of growth.
“I am delighted and proud to announce KDM’s integration into the Kiloutou Group,” said Michael Donnelly, chief executive of the KDM Hire Group. “This is an exceptional opportunity for our teams and our customers. Kiloutou’s expertise and financial strength will enable us to accelerate our growth, particularly in the Republic of Ireland, where the potential is immense. We share with Kiloutou the same values of passion for the customer and operational excellence.”
“Kiloutou’s entry into new countries is part of our strategic roadmap to 2030, as is our aim to rank among the top three in all the countries where we operate,” said Olivier Colleau, CEO of the Kiloutou Group. “Our entry into the Irish market represents a key milestone in our development. The acquisition of KDM Hire offers new opportunities for the Group within a highly dynamic market. We have been impressed by the teams’ expertise and their service-oriented culture. I am delighted to welcome the 240 team members from KDM Hire and to embark on a new chapter alongside them.”
International expansion launched in 2013
This move is part of the Kiloutou Group’s roadmap to expand its international operations, based on a dual growth model that combines organic growth with external expansion.
In addition to France, Kiloutou has been present in Poland since 2013, Spain since 2015, Germany since 2016, Italy since 2017, Denmark and Portugal since 2022. With the acquisition of KDM Hire in 2026, the international share of the Group’s revenue now stands at 43 percent, and the company hopes to increase this to more than 50 percent by 2030.
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.