Volvo Rents Expands by Acquisition in Wisconsin, California

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. — Volvo Rents has acquired Fred Rents, a two-location construction equipment rental company with stores in Madison and Neenah, Wis. The company primarily operates in the Fox Valley, Green Bay and all of Northeast Wisconsin. Fred Rents, founded in 2002, is particularly strong in the aerial work platform rental area, as well as earthmoving and material handling rental to the contractor and industrial markets.

The company also expanded its California footprint by acquiring U Save Equipment Rentals, a single-location rental center in San Francisco. Volvo Rents, which has made 28 acquisitions since the beginning of the year, including six in California, now has 13 rental centers in California and 131 branches in North America.

According to a recent forecast by economists at IHS Global Insight, California will spend the most construction dollars through 2016 ($723 billion) and will have the third-highest annual average percentage gain at 15.6 percent. McGraw Hill Construction forecasts construction spending in the greater San Francisco area to total more than $21 billion by the end of 2016.

“California's economy is growing again, and the building industry like no other industry defines economic recovery,” said Mike Crouch, vice president of business development for Volvo Rents. “The acquisition of U Save is a strategic move that will further strengthen our statewide presence and puts us in a favorable position to grow our business and increase the distribution of our comprehensive line of essential equipment. Our goal is to help rebuild a weakened construction market that has left too many jobless, littered the state with incomplete projects and sapped much-needed revenue, commerce and customers out of the local economy.”

“I am confident that our customers are in great hands,” said James Lew, who co-founded U Save in 1990.

In other company news, Arizona Equipment Rentals, acquired by Volvo Rents in February seven months after the Eloy, Ariz., rental company was devastated by a tornado, has relocated to a new 15,000-square-foot facility. The tornado, which tore off roofs, downed power lines, overturned semi trucks and flattened homes and businesses last August, seriously damaged the business.

The company, acquired by Volvo Rents, continued to do business despite losing its roof and being essentially leveled.

“We are proud of the opening of this new store as we continue to grow our business in this exciting growth region,” said Crouch. “As the old saying goes, ‘The show must go on,’ and we refused to let the storm keep us from servicing our customers. We knew it would be challenging, but we survived. So did our business and our loyal customer base.”

Volvo Rents has more than 130 rental locations in North America. The company is No. 21 on the RER 100.