United Rentals Acquires Mobile Storage Supplier

April 21, 2021

United Rentals will buy General Finance, a supplier of mobile storage and modular office space, for $996 million. General operates as Pac-Van and Container King in the United States.

The boards of directors both companies have approved the transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions.

United Rentals intends to commence a tender offer by April 26, 2021, to acquire all of the outstanding shares of GFN common stock for $19 per share in cash. Following completion of the tender offer, a wholly-owned subsidiary of United Rentals will merge with and into General Finance and shares of General Finance common stock that have not been tendered and purchased in the tender offer will be converted into the right to receive $19 per share in cash. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021.

General Finance operates in 52 of the top 100 MSAs in North America served by United Rentals locations, which will create immediate cross-sell opportunities, according to United Rentals, and it will be able to offer mobile storage and modular office solutions in other MSAs currently not served by General Finance.

United Rentals sees significant potential upside to profitability from the transaction over the next several years, driven by synergies within the combined operations, complementary services, efficiencies of scale, and an aggressive growth strategy. The company is targeting $65 million of total revenue synergies in the first three years post-close.

“Our acquisition of General Finance will be a significant opportunity for us to further differentiate our value in the eyes of our customers, while providing attractive, long-term returns for our shareholders,” said Matthew Flannery, president/CEO of United Rentals, in a prepared statement. “We see strong growth potential from this combination, including our ability cross-sell mobile storage and office solutions to our customers. Our expansion into this space comfortably checks all three boxes of our M&A criteria — strategic rationale, financial impact and cultural fit.”

Source: United Rentals