U.K.’s Vp Continues Acquisition Spree, Buys Two Companies
British rental giant Vp continued its acquisition spree with the purchase of two companies. Hire Station, a subsidiary of the Harrowgate, U.K.-based company, acquired heater and air conditional rental business Arcotherm for £650,000, (about U.S. $1.27 million) as well as DJ Tool Hire....
Speedy Survey Opens Bury St. Edmonds Branch
Speedy Survey, a division of Speedy Hire, the United Kingdom’s largest tool and equipment rental company, opened a £250,000 branch in Bury St. Edmonds. The 4,800-square-foot rental center will provide survey, safety and communications equipment to builders, contractors and customers in the industrial and manufacturing sectors....
Wacker Enhances Production in Europe
Wacker affiliate Kramer-Werke, a leading manufacturer of all-wheel loaders and telehandlers, is starting operations at its new plant in Pfullendorf, Germany, ahead of its original schedule. ...
U.K.’s Lavendon Reports 16% First-Quarter Revenue Jump
British aerial rental specialist Lavendon Group last week posted a 26-percent increase in first-quarter revenues and said it is trading in line with expectations. The company said its U.K. revenues in the first quarter increased 16 percent and that it expects its rate of growth to accelerate during the remainder of the year....
New Zealand’s Hirepool Launches Mobile Rental Center
New Zealand’s leading rental company Hirepool has seen immediate results from its new mobile depot that it recently launched to service the growing Auckland area. Hirepool Reloader, a dedicated, fully equipped, mobile rental branch working out of an Auckland City branch, has been visiting construction sites in downtown Auckland....
HSS Rolls Out U.K. Super Depots
British tool and equipment rental specialist HSS Hire has opened a 2800-square-meter (about 30,000 square feet) “super depot” in Manchester, England. ...
Exhibitor List for IRE Show Grows
More than 100 companies have confirmed participation in the International Rental Exhibition in Amsterdam at the beginning of June....
Doosan Infracore Sets Record in China Excavator Sales
Doosan Infracore recently announced it has broken multiple sales records by selling a total of 50,000 excavators in China, achieving its best performance in terms of monthly figures and setting a monthly sales record for a construction equipment business in China....
Harsco’s Access Unit Takes on U.K. Refinery Construction Project
Worldwide industrial services company Harsco Corp. said last week that its Access Services Business Group was awarded a $4 million order by the United Kingdom arm of global industrial giant Jacobs Engineering to provide and install rental scaffolding during construction of a new distillate hydrotreater at the U.K.’s third-largest refinery....
Caterpillar Group President Appointed to U.S.-India Business Council Board of Directors
The U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) last week announced the appointment of Caterpillar Inc. group president, Richard Lavin, to its board of directors....
Atlas Copco Opens Customer Center in Bangladesh
Atlas Copco has established a new customer center in Bangladesh in order to meet the strong demand for compressors, created by the country’s fast-growing investments in industry and infrastructure....
Atlas Copco Acquires Holding in Indian Drilling Technology Companies
Stockholm, Sweden-based Atlas Copco (India) Ltd has signed an agreement to acquire 25 percent of Focus Rocbit Pvt Ltd and Prisma Roctools Pvt Ltd in India, to strengthen the group’s position in the market for drill bits and hammers....
U.K. Crane Rental Firm Acquires Scottish Company
United Kingdom crane rental specialist Ainscough Crane Hire Limited acquired James Jack Lifting Services Limited, based in Aberdeen, Scotland, with branches in Invergordon, Dundee and Grangemouth....
Cramo Opens Russian Branch, Acquires Swedish Aerial Rental Companies
In a busy week, Cramo, the Helsinki, Finland-based international rental giant, acquired two Swedish rental companies and opened a new branch in Russia....
UK Rental Giant Vp Makes Two Acquisitions
British national rental company Vp plc last week made two acquisitions: UM Holdings, parent company of U-Mole, and Redding Hire. Vp spent £4.5 million (about U.S. $9 million) to buy U-Mole, one of the biggest players in the United Kingdom’s trenchless market, with annual rental volume of about £4 million. U-Mole sells and rents trenchless installation equipment to the utilities contractor market....
Deere Announces Major Investment In Russia
Deere & Co. last week announced plans to significantly expand its presence in Russia, one of the most important growth markets of the company in both agriculture and forestry....
Caterpillar Increases Stake in Joint Venture With Mitsubishi
Peoria, Ill. Caterpillar has increased its stake in Shin Caterpillar Mitsubishi, its joint venture with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to 67 percent, according...
Harsco Takes On $1.5 Million Contract in France
Worldwide industrial services company Harsco Corp. last week announced a $1.5 million contract to provide rental forming, shoring and design engineering services during construction of the second-largest hospital complex in France. The contract comes from French construction giant Eiffage....
Cramo Buys Czech, Latvian Rental Companies
Helsinki, Finland-based international rental giant Cramo recently signed a letter of intent to acquire Czech rental company Techniline for an undisclosed sum....
Atlas Copco Opens New Compressor Manufacturing Facility in China
Stockholm, Sweden-based Atlas Copco last week inaugurated a new compressor manufacturing plant in Shanghai, China. The new plant is a part of Shanghai Bolaite Compressor Co., Ltd. and will strengthen the company’s offer on the Chinese market....
Manitowoc Forms Joint Venture in China
The Manitowoc Co. and its cranes division has formed a joint venture with Chinese crane manufacturer TaiAn Dongyue Heavy Machinery Co....
Thomas Equipment to Produce Skid-steer Loaders With Singapore Firm
Thomas Equipment, an Osiris Corp. company, last week announced that it entered into an agreement in principle for the production of Thomas skid-steer loaders with Singapore Technologies Engineering's Guizhou Jonyang Kinetics subsidiary. ...
Speedy Hire Names Financial Director
Speedy Hire plc named Justin Read group financial director beginning April 1. Read was recently an executive with Hanson PLC, an international building materials company....
Lavendon Posts Big ’07 Profits, Acquires British Lift Specialist
Lavendon, Europe’s leading aerial rental company, is acquiring The Platform Co., believed to be the second-largest aerial rental company in the U.K. market for about £46.1 million (about U.S. $92.7 million) in cash and stock. In addition to strengthening Lavendon’s position in the U.K. access rental market, The Platform Co.’s fleet capacity will enable it to reduce capital expenditures in 2008....
U.K.’s Vp Acquires Lighting Rental Specialist
U.K. aerial rental specialist Vp last week acquired Northern Site Services, a company that rents temporary lighting to petrochemical plants for £1.6 million. NSS, established in 1993, provides temporary lighting and site electrics to the petrochemical and industrial sectors....