Cramo in Finnish rental acquisition

Rental company Cramo has expanded domestically with a deal to acquire Vuokra-Pekat, a privately-owned construction equipment rental business that operates in southern Finland.

Founded in 2004, Vuokra-Pekat’s area of expertise is rental-related dust control, and Cramo said this service was an excellent complement to its existing range of rental-related services.

Cramo added that it believed that revised laws and regulations governing dust control in the country would increase demand for services in construction work site management in the future.

Vuokra-Pekat also offers rental equipment for both new construction and renovation projects and also specialises in construction work site management and occupational safety. It produced revenues of around €4.8 million in 2014 and employs 20 people across two depots – one in Helsinki and one in Espoo.

Managing director of Cramo Finland and executive vice president for Eastern Europe Tatu Hauhio said, “The acquisition enables us to strengthen our nationwide position as the market leader in construction work site management.

"Vuokra-Pekat has also developed an excellent service package for dust control, which is a very good fit for our service selection. In southern Finland, Vuokra-Pekat complements our range of rental fleet.”

For the time being, Cramo said Vuokra-Pekat would continue to operate as a separate company, with Reijo Pirhonen continuing as managing director.

Mr Pirhonen said, “To grow organically in the current market situation would have required us to diversify our rental fleet and make additional investments. All owners were unanimous about selling the company to Cramo, a Finnish listed company.

“Cramo provides Vuokra-Pekat not only with a skilled organisation but also a versatile fleet. I trust that by combining the resources of our companies we will achieve significant growth in the future, even though the economic situation in construction industry is challenging in Finland.”