Private equity firm Rotunda Capital Partners has acquired American Equipment, Pacific Crane & Hoist and Allied Crane in the USA.
Rotunda has combined them to form American Equipment Holdings, claimed as the largest independent provider of overhead crane and hoist solutions and services in the Western United States. AEH will have 14 locations in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Adam Zimmerman, American Equipment president and CEO, will lead the new combined business and has retained equity. “This is an incredible opportunity for American Equipment. From our first meeting, it was clear that Rotunda shared similar views as to the foundation we have created and what our company could achieve,” Zimmerman said.
The new company will gain the expertise and capital to grow in a market with significant opportunity, Zimmerman continued.
“Rotunda has been looking for an investment in material handling distribution and service for some time,” said Ryan Aprill, Rotunda vice president. “The combination of American Equipment with Pacific Crane & Hoist and Allied Crane brings together more than 100 years of collective industry experience and creates the premier consolidation platform in the highly fragmented North American overhead crane and hoist market.”
Michael Perera, founder of Pacific Crane & Hoist, will also retain equity and stay on with the new business. “The combination of Pacific Crane & Hoist’s advanced and highly engineered system capabilities with American Equipment and Allied Crane is truly unique and will enable us to address any overhead crane and hoist project or service requirement entirely in-house,” Perera commented.
Dave Costa, founder of Allied Crane, will stay on as a special advisor. “It provides me with great pride knowing that the company I built for the last 45 years, and our employees, will be joining an organisation led by Rotunda and the most experienced overhead crane and hoist executives in the industry,” Costa said.
The new combined entity American Equipment Holdings has more than 2,000 customers. It represents a large number of manufacturers, including Detroit Hoist, Columbus McKinnon, ACCO, R&M, Demag, Gorbel, Spanco, IMS, Harrington, Conductix, Magnetek & PE.
