United Rentals Expands Rental Fleet with Acquisition of H&E Equipment Services

United Rentals has acquired H&E Equipment Services, a general rental fleet provider with equipment including aerial work platforms, earthmoving equipment, material handling equipment, and other general and specialty lines of equipment.

Founded in 1961, H&E now has approximately 2,900 employees and $2.9 billion of rental fleet at original cost. The company serves a mix of customers across both construction and industrial markets through its network of approximately 160 branches in over 30 U.S. states.

The transaction is consistent with United Rentals’ “grow the core” strategy, and legacy H&E customers will benefit from one-stop access to United Rentals’ rental offerings across Fluid Solutions, Matting Solutions, Onsite Services, Portable Storage & Modular Space, Power & HVAC, Tool Solutions, and Trench Safety, according to the companies.

The acquisition will expand United Rentals’ rental fleet by almost 64,000 units with an original cost of over $2.9 billion and an average age of under 41 months, as well as roughly $230 million of non-rental fleet.

The integration of H&E into United Rentals’ operations presents opportunities to improve efficiency, productivity and new business development with the adoption of United Rentals’ operations, including its technology offerings, according to the companies.

Matthew Flannery, CEO of United Rentals said in a statement:

“In H&E we’re acquiring a well-run operation that’s primed to benefit from our technology, operations and broad value proposition. We’ll be working side-by-side throughout the integration to capitalize on expertise from both sides. We will use our integration playbook as we prepare the acquired branches to take full advantage of our systems and operational capabilities.”