SMS Rents in Kingston one of 15 branches acquired by G Cooper Equipment Rentals

G.C. Andersen Capital Partners is Financial Advisor to Cooper in SMS Acquisition

Nov. 20, 2015

G.C. Andersen Partners was exclusive financial advisor to G. Cooper Equipment in its recent acquisition of SMS Rents, the investment banking and advisory firm recently announced.

Michael Roth

G.C. Andersen Partners was exclusive financial advisor to G. Cooper Equipment in its recent acquisition of SMS Rents, the investment banking and advisory firm recently announced. G.C. Andersen Partners also arranged an $80 million senior credit facility to complete the acquisition through its wholly owned broker-dealer G.C. Andersen Partners.

G.C. Anderson has completed transactions totaling more than $450 million in the past 18 months.

Cooper Equipment, one of Canada’s leading equipment rental companies, is a portfolio company of SeaFort Capital, a Halifax, N.S.-based private investment firm. SMS Rents was a division of SMS Construction and Mining Systems, a major Canadian construction equipment business that is a member of the Sumitomo Corp. Group.

“By combining SMS Rents and Cooper, we are creating a strong Canadian business of considerable scale and 21 full-service branches with over 300 employees, which will provide us broad geographic coverage across Ontario and Quebec,” said Darryl Cooper, CEO of Cooper Equipment.

“We have had a long relationship with the Cooper Equipment team, having represented them in 2013 when they received the initial investment from SeaFort Capital, and are pleased to have played a role in this significant transaction for the company, which now positions Cooper Equipment as one of the leading equipment rental companies in Eastern Canada,” said Scott Hadfield, managing director at G.C. Andersen.

“G.C. Andersen has extensive experience in the equipment rental business and outstanding relationships throughout the financing community,” added Rob Normandeau, president of SeaFort Capital.