Kiloutou finalises BM Location acquisition

Kiloutou and Bergerat Monnoyeur have confirmed the sale of the BM Location rental business to Kiloutou. The deal only requires confirmation by the European competition authorities in Brussels.

Xavier du Boys, Kiloutou's chief executive, told IRN that the acquisition was extremely important for the company, "Kiloutou is not very strong in rental for civil works. Our market share in that sector is rather low. BM is strong there; we will be able to provide a better offering to our customers."

Kiloutou's main business is in the building sector, renting smaller equipment to contractors, tradesmen and individuals, with civil works representing just 10% of it's business. However, civil works is it's fastest growing sector; "and these clients were expecting more equipment", said Mr du Boys.

The deal will add revenues of around €80 million to Kiloutou's sales of €280 million last year. Mr du Boys said Kiloutou's Market share in France would increase to 13%, compared to more than 20% at Loxam, which is the biggest player in France.

The expansion of Kiloutou's product range will also make it a more direct competitor to Loxam. "Customers definitely need an alternative to Loxam," said Mr du Boys, "If Loxam was alone, maybe it would be comfortable for them, but it would be bad for the industry. The industry needs competition."

BM Location will be run as a separate business fir the time being, with the BM Loc brand being retained. Kiloutou veteran Patrick Rybicki will become general manager of BM Location, helped by other Kiloutou management and existing BM Loc staff.

Although full integration of the business will take time. Mr du Boys said "bridges" would be built between the two operations.

The acquisition takes place during an extremely busy year for the company. It has made two other acquisitions - of access rental businesses Mediac'Up and AlteAd - and has launched two major initiatives.

The first is a new online rental marketplace offering customers a range of 1500 products, including cars, through it's kiloutou.fr website. The second is a store-in-store rental offering at DIY stores Bricorama and Monsieur Bricolage, which will be greatly expanded next year.