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The privately owned rental equipment group Hirepool has made its first acquisition for this year with the purchase of truck and commercial vehicle company Henderson Rentals.
Henderson Rentals has a fleet of 500 vehicles which are used by contracting and construction companies.
The deal is likely to have been worth close to $15 million.
Hirepool has now spent $40 million on an aggressive growth strategy since it was bought last July by Australian private equity investor Next Capital for $172 million.
Hirepool chief executive Tenby Powell said the plan was to take the Henderson Rentals brand nationwide and create a new specialist truck and commercial vehicle rental division.
The company already has three Auckland branches and one in Hamilton.
The purchase of Henderson Rentals brings the number of business units now under Hirepool's control to 65.
Purchases in the past six months include Port-A-Loo Christchurch, Davies Hire in Mt Albert and Power Plant Supplies. The company has also opened a new Hirepool branch in Whangarei and taken over the lease of a new site in Penrose to house Nationwide Equipment.
When Powell took a stake in Hirepool in July 2003 it had 14 branches, with only one in the South Island. By last July it had established 52 business units, including 14 in the South Island.
Powell - who is married to high- profile business woman Sharon Hunter - retains a 20 per cent stake in Hirepool.
