Hirepool, New Zealand's powerful rental chain, last week acquired Auckland event hire firm Castles Marquee and Party Hire amid media reports that the company was considering going public in Australia, where Hirepool's parent company also owns OnSite Rentals and OnSite Access & Scaffolds. However, Tenby Powell, CEO of Rakino Group, Hirepool's parent company, said any possible offering was more likely years than months away.

Terms of Hirepool's acquisition of Castles were not disclosed, although local sources said the acquisition price was more than AU $1 million (U.S. $891,840). Powell said the acquisition enabled Hirepool to offer full packages in the events industry, including marquees, generators (through Hirepool Energy), portable toilets through Port-a-Loo, commercial vehicles (Henderson Rentals) and crowd control and vehicle barriers (Barricading Solutions).

Powell said that if the company were to consider a “float,” the chances were 99.9 percent that it would be on the Australian Stock Exchange. Powell said New Zealand's investment groups think in a very short-term “month-to-month and quarter to quarter” manner. Australian private equity firm Next Capital bought 75.5 percent of Hirepool in July 2006 in an AU $172 million deal (U.S. $153 million). Powell owns a 20-percent stake in the company.

Powell said the company has invested about $30 million into Hirepool operations since the Next investment. Hirepool brought in more than $100 million in revenue last year, up from $24 million in 2003.