Avesco to buy Finnish rental company

Swiss-based Avesco Group is to acquire Finnish rental company Vatupassi Törmälä Oy. The deal will add five locations to Avesco Rent’s existing three-store rental operation in the country.

Following the acquisition, Vatupassi will continue to operate under its current name from its depots in central Finland, at Joensuu, Jyväskylä, Kuopio, Nurmes, and Oulu. Avesco’s rental sites in Finland are at Tampere, Turku, and Kerava (near Helsinki).

Vatupassi has five rental locations in Finland. (Photo: Avesco)

Avesco, which is Caterpillar dealer in Switzerland, the Baltic States and Finland, has been expanding its rental business beyond Switerland, with sites in the Baltic States and Finland added in recent years to its main 20-location rental operation in Switzerland.

The deal, which is expected to close in February or March, will add Vatupassi’s 70 employees to the 15 Avesco Rent staff in Finland.

The major shareholder of Vatupasssi, Milla Törmälä, will continue as CEO, while Anssi Törmälä, CFO, and Sampsa Tanskanen, COO, will also retain their roles.

Vincent Albasini, the CEO of Avesco Rent Group, said; “The Vatupassi brand is incomparable in Finland, and the merger of two strong operators is a huge competitive edge for both. Our goal is to together become the strongest and most significant operator of the industry in all of Finland.

Milla Törmälä, continues as CEO of Vatupassi following the acquisition. (Photo: Avesco)

“We are pleased to wish Vatupassi and its employees welcome to Avesco Rent Group. Our products and services complement each other well, and it is a key differentiating factor in the extremely competitive rental market.”

Milla Törmälä said the deal would give it the resources it needed to expand; “For several years, we have grown our market position, but on our own it has been slower than we would have liked to see.

“Avesco provides such resources for growth that we do not possess and ideally matches with our values and corporate culture. We’re very excited about the joint new possibilities and will make everything possible to provide an even better service to our customers.”

Törmälä said Avesco’s status as a sixth-generation family-owned business was an important consideration in reaching the agreement.

“It has been a matter of honour for us to be a fair employer and bear our responsibility not only for our employees but also for the environment”, said Törmälä.

“Our objective is to decrease our relative carbon dioxide emissions to almost half in the next two years. These are the matters which we jointly want to focus on in the future. With these focus areas we believe we can be the best solution provider to our customers.”

Vincent Albasini, CEO, Avesco Rent Group. (Photo: Avesco)

Vatupassi was founded in 1992 and is run by the second generation of the founding family. The company won the Small Rental Company of the Year award at the 2020 European Rental Awards.

Avesco Group employs a total of more than 1,100 people in Switzerland, Austria, Finland, and the Baltic countries. It is Caterpillar dealer in Switzerland, the Baltic States (since 2016) and Finland (since 2020).