FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Phoenix Rental Partners, an investment group that has established a leadership role in NationsRent's prepetition senior secured lender group, recently added Jeff Putman, former CEO of Greenville, S.C.-based AMECO, to its executive management team, according to sources close to the situation. Phoenix, headed by Bryan Rich, former owner of several rental centers acquired by NationsRent, is expected to take a leading role in the management of NationsRent when the company emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy organization, which is likely to take place in early April.

Putman was the driving force in the development of the business model of AMECO, then known as American Equipment Co. American, owned by Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based Fluor Corp., rented equipment to Fluor on many of its construction projects around the world and also rented equipment to other customers on projects in Latin America, Asia and North America. The company also served as a distributor for several equipment manufacturers in various markets. Putman left American to take another position with Fluor in 1996.

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based NationsRent is No. 6 on the RER 100.