Hunter Street Partners, an alternative investment management firm headquartered in Minneapolis, has launched a scalable platform to invest in equipment rental companies.
Hunter Street’s first purchase is All-Star Equipment Rental, a single-site rental business in Naples, Florida. Hunter Street will work closely with All-Star’s management to evaluate opportunities for expansion in southwestern Florida.
All-Star rents, sells, and services equipment including but not limited to forklifts, boom lifts, mini-excavators, skid steers, scissor lifts, and an extensive offering of small equipment.
The company serves a range of commercial end-markets including construction, renovation, landscaping, energy, milling, and agriculture companies throughout southwestern Florida.
Hunter Street plans to work with All-Star's management to identify opportunities to expand its fleet and add new types of equipment to better serve customer demand. In addition, Hunter Street will look to acquire other regional operators of complementary businesses to scale the equipment rental platform.
"The COVID-19 pandemic created an imbalance in the equipment rental space, and as the U.S. positions itself for an eventual economic rebound, companies like All-Star will be among the first movers in a recovery," said Neal Johnson, CEO and CIO of Hunter Street Partners. "The Southwest Florida equipment rental market will benefit from broader economic factors including the pent-up demand for infrastructure spending and homebuilding, and we're excited to work closely with Kevin and the team at All-Star to serve more local businesses."
"All-Star is excited to continue supporting contractors getting back to business, and we strongly believe Hunter Street's support will help us expand our rental offerings as well as our ability to reach a broader range of customers," said Kevin Duffy, president of All-Star. "We're grateful to the hundreds of local businesses we worked with over the last 18 years, and we look forward to continuing to build the All-Star brand with our new partner."
Hunter Street Partners provides capital solutions to operating partner teams and lower middle market companies across corporate finance, real estate, and specialty finance. The firm is focused on fundamentals-driven, asset-oriented credit and equity opportunities.