I Squared Said to Acquire Australian Trailer Leaser Rentco

Infrastructure investor I Squared Capital has signed a deal to acquire Australian truck and trailer leasing business Rentco Transport Equipment Rentals, according to people familiar with the matter.

(Bloomberg) — Infrastructure investor I Squared Capital has signed a deal to acquire Australian truck and trailer leasing business Rentco Transport Equipment Rentals, according to people familiar with the matter.

I Squared may announce a deal as soon as Tuesday for the firm, which rents out what it said is the country’s largest fleet of heavy duty transport equipment, that would value it at about A$200 million ($132 million), one of the people said. The Miami-based fund will likely outlay a further A$300 million on expanding the business including acquisitions, said the people, who asked to not be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the deal.

Representatives for I Squared declined to comment while Rentco didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Any deal and expansion would capitalize on a footprint of depots across mainland Australia that already houses a combined 3,500 trucks, trailers, forklifts and other equipment as logistics demand Down Under is surging to catch up with other major developed economies. It may also be a bellwether for more heavy equipment leasing transactions just as Asia-Pacific’s biggest owner of cranes, Singapore-based Tat Hong, weighs an exit of its Australian operations, Bloomberg reported in February.

The deal marks the latest for I Squared, which has $37 billion in assets under management. In 2021, the firm purchased trailer rental outfit Star Leasing, bringing its total transport and logistics portfolio at that time to 264,000 trailers and 123 workshops with 3,500 employees in 19 countries.

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