HOUSTON — TNT Crane & Rigging has sold a majority interest to Odyssey Investment Partners, which has acquired the company from MML Capital Partners. TNT, a full-service crane and rigging company based in Houston, has eight additional branches in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.

The fast-growing TNT has made four acquisitions since 2008. With the Odyssey investment, TNT plans to continue to grow the business both organically and through acquisitions. The management team, including president and CEO Mike Appling, chief financial officer Deana Haygood, Randy Dobbs and Pat Tesson are investors in the transaction and will continue to own portions of the business. Appling said TNT tripled the size of its business during the four-year period of MML Capital's ownership.

TNT provides crane rental and rigging services primarily to the refinery, petrochemical, power, commercial, and oil and gas end markets. The company owns one of the largest and most diverse mobile crane fleets in the region, with cranes ranging in size from 15 to 800 tons.

“We are extremely excited about our new relationship with Odyssey,” said Appling. “Odyssey has a deep knowledge and understanding of the rental services industry and our particular end markets; this will enhance our growth opportunities and capabilities.”

“We have a long and successful history supporting and building businesses in the industrial equipment rental and services industries; we believe that TNT is a tremendous opportunity,” said Bill Hopkins, managing principal of Odyssey. “Odyssey is extremely impressed with the management team and we look forward to working closely with them to continue building this business.”

Odyssey is not a newcomer to the rental industry. Odyssey is the primary owner of Waukesha, Wis.-based Safway Scaffolding, one of the world's largest scaffolding and access rental specialists. It acquired Neff Rentals in April 2005 for about $510 million, and sold it two years later for about $900 million. It acquired the tank rental division of NES Rentals in April 2007, changing the name of that business to Evergreen Tank Solutions. It also invested in Williams Scotsman, a leading provider of mobile office and storage units leased through a national network of branches, and United Site Services, the largest provider of portable restroom services in the United States.

Odyssey Investment Partners has offices in New York and Los Angeles and is a leading middle-market private equity firm with more than $2 billion under management.