Equipment leasing involves a wide range of fields and industries, including construction equipment, electricity, activities, high-altitude work platforms, and cranes. So, what position does crane leasing occupy in the broader leasing market?
Heavy lifting giant Mammoet has used a PTC210DS circular crane for Seagreen offshore wind farm in Port Nege, Scotland.
Purely based on financial data, 12 crane companies have been selected as one of the top 100 global equipment leasing companies. In 2023, these 12 companies generated approximately 5 billion euros in rental income, accounting for 6.5% of the total revenue of the top 100 companies, which was 75 billion euros. Among these 12 companies, 7 are located in the top 50 of IRN100. Among these 12 companies, Maxim is the largest in terms of pure rental income, ranking 17th with revenue of less than 900 million euros, followed closely by Sarens and Mammoet. So this is our preliminary answer: crane leasing accounts for between 5% and 10% of the global equipment leasing market.
If this is a reasonable share, people in the crane industry may say that typical equipment leasing companies have extremely diverse fleets, including "core" construction products such as excavators. This is indeed the case, but there are still many leasing companies with a scale larger than our crane company, including Aggreko (electricity), WillScot (temporary accommodation and storage), Modulaire (temporary accommodation), and Horizon Construction (aerial work platform).
Of course, the biggest difference lies in the scale of leasing "comprehensive enterprises". United Rentals and Sunbelt Rentals (both under the Asht Group) are both companies with over 10 billion euros and more than 1500 locations. The next level is Herc Rentals (3 billion euros), Loxam (2.5 billion euros), and four major Japanese rental companies (Aktio, Nishio Rental All, Kanamoto, and Nikken), all of which have revenues exceeding 800 million euros.
At the operational level, there are clear differences between cranes and other rental products. The vast majority of general rental companies do not have many cranes. Most companies have telescopic boom forklifts and yard cranes, and perhaps some professional "spider" type cranes, but they often avoid using classic mobile or crawler cranes, which are the main products of most crane rental companies. Some crane companies are involved in general equipment, high-altitude work platforms (such as All Family of Companies), or electricity (such as Al Faris in the United Arab Emirates), but this is usually not their core business. Some companies have shifted from cranes to general leasing, with H&E Equipment Services in the United States being the best example.
In fact, a key trend in equipment leasing is the acquisition of specialized companies by general purpose companies. Among the top 100 leasing companies, 29 can be classified as professional, but this number is decreasing every year. From this perspective, cranes, as well as electricity and temporary accommodation, are one of the industries that firmly maintain their "separation" and product expertise. The goal of becoming a universal company? This raises a question: Will crane leasing companies become targets for large general leasing companies? You may think so because a key strategy of General Rental is to expand its specialized departments: this situation is common worldwide, but particularly intense in the United States, where both United Rentals and Sunbelt Rentals have made significant organic growth and acquisition investments in areas such as cleaning equipment, pumps, trenching, and temporary tracks. Taking United as an example, the annual compound growth rate (CAGR) of the professional department has reached 24.2% in the past 10 years. The business currently operates through 651 locations and generates over $4 billion in revenue annually. The returns of these specialized businesses are often higher than those of general equipment (leasing companies can provide their "expertise" and equipment); They are usually well integrated with warehouses, workshops, and transportation departments; And it helps to diversify the customer base and reduce dependence on the construction industry. But crane leasing is not easy to integrate. They may help diversify targets to some extent, but adding a crane to a standard equipment rental warehouse is very difficult, and there is no doubt that you cannot transport a crawler crane on a low platform filled with generators and lighting towers. The demand for crane operators also makes crane leasing appear different. Therefore, crane leasing business is usually independent - crane professionals can undoubtedly think of more reasons. This does not mean that General Rental Company is absolutely impossible to enter the crane industry. Both United Rentals and Sunbelt Rentals operate public car rental departments in the United States, including excavators, which are closely related to cranes. More importantly, large general-purpose companies are constantly seeking growth opportunities. These American giants are investigating the European market - where both United and Sunbelt operate - but the investment returns in the United States are still relatively high. Can they believe that the crane business in the United States is at least as profitable as general leasing in Europe?