Finland-based international rental giant Cramo strengthened its presence in the Helsinki, Finland, metropolitan area by acquiring the entire share capital of privately owned Vuokra-Pekat Oy construction equipment rental company.
VPO was founded in 2004 and has a strong local presence as a general rental company in southern Finland. The company specializes in rental-related dust control and is Finland’s market leader in that space. The dust-control segment complements Cramo’s overall array of services.
Vuokra-Pekat offers rental equipment for both new construction and renovation projects in southern Finland. Its product range contains an extensive selection of general fleet and fleet for the framework stage of buildings in particular. The company also specializes in construction work site management and occupational safety. The acquisition will strengthen Cramo's market position in equipment rental as well as in the provision of rental-related services.
"The acquisition enables us to strengthen our nationwide position as the market leader in construction work site management,” said Tatu Hauhio, managing director of Cram Finland and executive vice president for Eastern Europe. “Vuokra-Pekat has also developed an excellent service package for dust control, which is a very good fit for our service selection. In southern Finland, Vuokra-Pekat complements our range of rental fleet."
Last year, the sales of Vuokra-Pekat was approximately €4.8 million (about U.S. $5.4 million), profitability was good and the company had 20 employees. Approximately 60 per cent of the sales comes from traditional equipment rental, and about 40 per cent consists of dust control products and services. Vuokra-Pekat has two depots in the Helsinki metropolitan area, one in Helsinki and one in Espoo.
For the time being, Vuokra-Pekat will continue operating as a separate company. Reijo Pirhonen will continue as managing director. Vuokra-Pekat is the only player in the market to offer a modular dust removal solution for construction sites. In addition to site vacuuming, services include lighting, electrification and occupational safety. Cramo believes that the revised laws and regulations governing dust control will increase the demand for services in construction work site management in the future.
Cramo, which has operations in 15 northern, central and eastern European countries, is based in Vantaa, near Helsinki, Finland.
