United Rentals last week announced that it completed the sale of its traffic control business to HTS Acquisition, an entity newly formed by affiliates of private equity investors Wynnchurch Capital Partners and Oak Hill Special Opportunities Fund, L.P. The agreement to sell the business was announced in December.
In connection with the transaction, HTS Acquisition paid United Rentals an adjusted purchase price of $68 million in cash, reflecting the $85 million purchase price, reduced by the payoff at closing of certain indebtedness of the traffic control business and working capital and other adjustments.
United Rentals expects to recognize a fourth-quarter 2006 loss on the sale of approximately 21 cents per diluted share. This loss on sale, as well as prior period and full-year 2006 results for the traffic control business, will be reflected as discontinued operations when the company reports its fourth quarter and full-year 2006 results. The divestiture is not expected to have a material impact on 2007 results.
United Rentals' traffic control business represented one of the company’s three financial reporting segments, accounting for 8 percent of total revenues in 2005.
The company’s fourth quarter and full-year 2006 results will be released after the market close on Monday, Feb. 26. The company will hold its fourth quarter and full-year conference call with Wayland Hicks, CEO, Martin Welch, chief financial officer, and Michael Kneeland, executive vice president-operations, on Tuesday, Feb. 27, at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The conference call is available by audio webcast at unitedrentals.com, where it will be archived.
Greenwich, Conn.-based United Rentals is No. 1 on the RER 100. It has an integrated network of nearly 700 rental locations in 48 states, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico.
