Kennards enters New Zealand with acquisition

Australian family-owned rental company Kennards Hire has acquired McEntee Hire, which is based in New Zealand.

Kennards will take on nine depots in Auckland, bringing the company to a total of 138 locations. This is Kennards' first move outside of Australia.

McEntee Hire owner Bill McEntee said he was pleased to sell his business to another family-owned company with similar values.

“After 35 years in the business, I wanted to do something different, and I can do that knowing my customers are in good hands,” he said. “I have known Andy Kennard and their senior management for many years through our hire industry associations, and they have the same basic ethics of fairness and doing the right thing by customers.

"Kennards is putting a lot of new equipment into the branches, which will be a plus for customers, and the faces of the people who look after them will be the same because all our people were offered the chance to stay on.”

Andy Kennard, whose father started the business 64 years ago, said his family was proud to be able to continue McEntee Hire’s work within a family business framework.

“We welcome our new employees, and look forward to them developing their careers with us,” he said.

Kennards CEO Allen Besseling said there would be benefits for both new and existing customers. “We welcome the opportunity to show a new group of customers what Kennards is about, and we are also delighted we will be able to do a better job for customers who operate in both countries,” he said.

Kennards had revenues of A$215 million last year.