Rotunda Capital Partners Acquires and Combines American Equipment, Pacific Crane & Hoist and Allied Crane

Transaction forms American Equipment Holdings, the premier overhead crane and hoist solutions platform in the Western U.S.

BETHESDA, Md. & EVANSTON, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rotunda Capital Partners (“Rotunda”), an operationally-focused private equity firm, has partnered with the management teams of American Equipment, Pacific Crane & Hoist and Allied Crane to form the largest independent provider of overhead crane and hoist solutions and services in the Western U.S. The combined company will operate as American Equipment Holdings (the “Company”) with 14 strategic locations throughout Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

American Equipment’s President and CEO, Adam Zimmerman, will retain a significant equity interest in the Company and will lead the combined business. Michael Perera will also retain an equity interest and will continue to provide complex and highly engineered overhead crane and hoist solutions to customers across a diverse range of end markets throughout North America. Dave Costa will continue to support the Company and its customers as a special advisor.

“Rotunda has been looking for an investment in material handling distribution and service for some time,” said Ryan Aprill, Vice President at Rotunda. “The combination of American Equipment with Pacific Crane & Hoist and Allied Crane brings together more than 100 years of collective industry experience and creates the premier consolidation platform in the highly fragmented North American overhead crane and hoist market.”

“This is an incredible opportunity for American Equipment. From our first meeting, it was clear that Rotunda shared similar views as to the foundation we have created and what our company could achieve,” said Adam Zimmerman, President and CEO of American Equipment. “Through this partnership, our culture and high-touch customer experience that we are known for won’t change, but we gain the expertise and capital to grow in a market with significant opportunity.”

“This deal continues Rotunda’s foundation of acquiring family and founder-owned companies and partnering with strong management teams,” said Corey Whisner, Partner at Rotunda. “We look forward to working alongside management to leverage the combined Company’s geographic footprint and comprehensive solution capabilities to expand upon its existing value-proposition, while also accelerating expansion into new geographies and markets.”

“Over the last half century, American Equipment’s team has built a leading regional equipment and service business and they are well-positioned for substantial future growth,” said Dan Lipson, Partner at Rotunda. “In addition to supporting the acquisitions of Pacific Crane & Hoist and Allied Crane, we are committed to helping the Company build a business of national scale through both organic growth and additional acquisitions.”

“The combination of Pacific Crane & Hoist’s advanced and highly engineered system capabilities with American Equipment and Allied Crane is truly unique and will enable us to address any overhead crane and hoist project or service requirement entirely in-house,” said Michael Perera, founder of Pacific Crane & Hoist.

“It provides me with great pride knowing that the company I built for the last 45 years, and our employees will be joining an organization led by Rotunda and the most experienced overhead crane and hoist executives in the industry,” said Dave Costa, founder of Allied Crane.

About American Equipment Holdings

American Equipment Holdings is home to a collection of leading overhead crane and hoist distributors and service providers, including American Equipment, Pacific Crane & Hoist and Allied Crane. The consolidated entity is one of the largest independently owned overhead crane and hoist solutions providers in the country, serving over 2,000 customers across 14 strategic locations throughout Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Together, American Equipment Holdings provides comprehensive solutions for everything related to customers’ overhead crane and hoist needs, including new and replacement equipment, ISO certified fabrication, automated systems, system modernizations, parts, inspections (including OHSA and Cal-OSHA), preventative maintenance and repair services and training.

American Equipment Holdings represents the industry’s leading manufacturers such as Detroit Hoist, Columbus McKinnon, ACCO, R&M, Demag, Gorbel, Spanco, IMS, Harrington, Conductix, Magnetek & PE, among others and customers rely on its design, engineering, fabrication and installation capabilities to meet their unique application needs. American Equipment Holdings serves local, regional and national customers across a variety of end markets, including light & heavy industrial, automotive, mining, public utilities, military, aerospace & defense and energy, among others. For more information, visit www.americanequipmentholdings.com.

About American Equipment

American Equipment, based in Salt Lake City, UT, provides its customers a one-stop-shop solution for all their overhead crane and hoist needs, including new equipment design, engineering and fabrication, system modernization, installation, inspection, maintenance, repair and training services. For more information, visit www.amquipinc.com.

About Pacific Crane & Hoist

Founded in 2007 by former Demag Cranes manager and licensed engineer, Michael Perera, Pacific Crane & Hoist is North America’s leader in highly engineered and automated crane systems, as well as a leader in the Southern California maintenance, inspection and repair market. For more information, visit www.pacificcranehoist.com.

About Allied Crane

Allied Crane was founded in 1976 by Dave Costa and is the premier regional provider of full-service, comprehensive overhead crane and hoist solutions in the Northern California market. For more information, visit www.alliedcrane.us.

About Rotunda Capital Partners

Rotunda Capital Partners is a private equity firm that invests equity capital in established, lower middle market companies. Rotunda partners with management to build data-driven growth platforms within its targeted sectors, including value-added distribution, asset-light logistics and industrial/business services. Founded in 2009, the firm has a long history of helping management teams achieve their goals for growth. The Rotunda team actively provides guidance and draws on deep industry and financial relationships to contribute to the successful execution of Rotunda’s companies’ strategic plans. The firm has offices in Bethesda, MD and Evanston, IL. For more information, visit www.rotundacapital.com.