Taylor Rental franchises acquired by Massachusetts equipment company

Abstract

Steve Smith, president of CNY Equipment Rentals and Sales Corp., the owner of the Taylor Rental franchises in North Syracuse, Dewitt and Latham, NY, knew what to do in the face of rampant consolidation in his industry.

Steve Smith, president of CNY Equipment Rentals and Sales Corp., the owner of the Taylor Rental franchises in North Syracuse, Dewitt and Latham, NY, knew what to do in the face of rampant consolidation in his industry.

He jumped on the bandwagon and sold his 25-year-old business to Logan Equipment Corp., a growth minded rental company headquartered in Shrewsbury, MA.

The transaction closed in June. Terms were not disclosed.

Smith did not sell out to retire, however, after building up his company to be one of the most productive Taylor Rental franchises in the nation. Rather, he voiced concern about this ability to compete effectively against rapidly expanding competitors with deeper pockets and lower cost of capital.

The $20 billion equipment rental industry is growing at a 15 percent annual rate and publicly held corporations like United Rentals, Neff Equipment and National Equipment Services are expanding by gobbling up small independents, or each other. U.S. Rentals, for example, is in the processing of being taken over by United Rentals.

"There are half a dozen publicly held companies in the rental business now that didn't exist a year and a half ago," Smith says.

Logan Equipment is privately held, but Smith commented that he didn't want to be in the position of trying to compete against Wall Street money with a relatively small business (the company employs 60 people) financed by bank loans.

The acquisition by Logan is the Massachusetts company's second this year and its first move into upstate New York. A year ago, Logan operated just two units, the one in Shrewsbury where the company is headquartered and the other in Boston. In March Logan Equipment acquired Parker Danner, another independent New England rental company and then Smith's three Taylor-Rental stores in June.

Logan currently operates twelve rental centers in Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island and New York State and Smith says more acquisitions are planned.

Smith, who is now the company's executive vice president responsible for Logan's New York State operations, also spoke of interest in opening a fourth rental center in New York State, most likely in the Southern Tier.

Logan became interested in his company, according to Smith, after Chicago-based National Equipment Services acquired Albany Ladder and the JLG line of aerial lifts became available in the Syracuse and Albany markets. Smith took on the JLG line and Logan took over Smith's company. Logan is a JLG dealer in Massachusetts.

Like Smith's Taylor Rental centers, Logan specializes in aerial lifts, material handling equipment, general and light construction equipment, and rental equipment for parties and events. "Our ultimate goal is to be the Northeast's equipment solutions company and the Taylor Rental acquisition brings us one step closer to that goal," declared Barry Rich, president of the Logan Equipment Corporation and president of the New England Equipment Dealers Association.

How long Logan Equipment remains independent and privately held is open to conjecture.