G.C. Andersen Partners, LLC (“G.C. Andersen”), a New York-based investment bank, has announced that G. Cooper Equipment Rentals Ltd ("Cooper Equipment") has acquired SMS Rents, a Canadian-based equipment rental company.
G.C. Andersen, in addition to acting as exclusive financial advisor to Cooper Equipment, arranged an $80-million senior credit facility to complete the acquisition of SMS Rents through its wholly-owned broker-dealer, G.C. Andersen Partners Capital, LLC.
Cooper Equipment, the leading compact equipment rental company in the Greater Toronto Area, is a portfolio company of SeaFort Capital, a Halifax-based private investment firm. SMS Rents was a division of SMS Construction and Mining Systems Inc., a major Canadian construction equipment business that is a member of the Sumitomo Corporation Group.
Announcing the purchase, Darryl Cooper, CEO of Cooper said, "By combining SMS Rents and Cooper, we are creating a strong Canadian business of considerable scale and 21 full service branches with over 300 employees which will provide us broad geographic coverage across Ontario and Quebec.”
Doug Dougherty, President of Cooper added “SMS Rents has an excellent reputation for customer service and support. SMS Rents’ employees share our passion for delivering the best possible equipment solutions for customers. I am confident that the combination of Cooper and SMS Rents will result in exciting new opportunities for all employees and continued great service for customers, over a much broader geographic footprint.”
Scott Hadfield, Managing Director at G.C. Andersen commented, “We have had a long relationship with the Cooper Equipment team, having represented them in 2013 when they received the initial investment from SeaFort Capital, and are pleased to have played a role in this significant transaction for the Company, which now positions Cooper Equipment as one of the leading equipment rental companies in Eastern Canada.”
Rob Normandeau, President of Seafort Capital, commented, “G.C. Andersen has extensive experience in the equipment rental business and outstanding relationships throughout the financing community. These combined to make them a most effective partner in providing an attractive financing solution to facilitate this transaction.”
G.C. Andersen continues to remain very active in arranging debt and equity financing for its clients, having completed transactions totaling over $450 million in the last eighteen months. Within its capital raising business, G.C. Andersen maintains deep relationships and experience working with growing equipment rental companies seeking creative financing solutions.
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