With the completion of its strategic realignment, the company is now “the leader in the aerial equipment rental space,” NES CEO Andrew Studdert said.

The realignment strategy involved the divestment of non-core businesses including tank, manned crane, traffic safety and studio equipment. “Following our acquisition by Diamond Castle Holdings, the NES management team was driven to make the company a leader in the aerial equipment rental business,” said Studdert. “Our strategy was to simultaneously grow our aerial business through investments and expansion, and divest business units that didn’t complement our new strategy. Within 14 months of the acquisition, we achieved this significant business goal and consider ourselves to be the leader in the aerial equipment rental space.”

Studdert recently told RER that more than 90 percent of NES’ revenues come from aerial and related markets and nearly 100 percent of its investment over the past two years has been in aerial. NES reduced the age of its fleet significantly, Studdert added. Its aerial fleet is running 80 percent utilization, he said.

Studdert told RER that NES is now about a $425 million to $450 million business that is particularly strong along the Gulf Coast, Texas, the upper Midwest and upper eastern seaboard, New England and Ohio. Studdert said the company will continue to look for selective acquisition opportunities and will continue to invest in fleet.

Chicago-based NES, No. 6 on the RER 100, has focused on expanding its core aerial equipment rental business by investing $100 million annually in new equipment since 2004 and opening new branches in key markets. Its most recent branch openings were in Panama City, Fla., Glendale and Tucson, Ariz., and Gulfport, Miss.