United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI), Stamford, CT, announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire National Pump, Beaumont, TX, a specialty pump rental company. Under the terms of the agreement, United Rentals will also acquire GulfCo, a two branch general rental business also based in Texas. The combined purchase price for the assets is approximately $780 million.
"This transaction is an important step in our strategy to create a company that delivers strong financial returns through the cycle," said Michael Kneeland, president and CEO of United Rentals. "We have been executing against a plan to strengthen and diversify our business, as demonstrated by our 18 specialty cold starts in 2013 and 13 planned for 2014. National Pump provides an attractive new specialty offering which increases our penetration in growing end markets and advances over time our financial goals of delivering strong free cash flow and improved returns.”
National Pump will become part of the United Rentals specialty division under the leadership of Paul McDonnell, senior vice president of specialty rentals.
“We have worked with National Pump management to develop a plan to double the size of our new pump business within five years, and we are ready to implement it,” McDonnell said.
