Apollo Global Management to Acquire and Merge Maxim and AmQuip

May 2, 2016 - Apollo Global Management LLC will acquire Maxim Crane Works LP and AmQuip Crane Rental LLC and merge the two, creating a U.S. lifting-equipment company with a fleet of nearly 2,000 cranes. The proposed transactions are subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions. Financial terms of the transactions were not disclosed.

 

Headquartered in Bridgeville, Pa., Maxim rents out mobile cranes and other heavy equipment. It offers more than 1,400 cranes, one of the largest fleets in the industry. Founded in 1967, Trevose, Pa.-based AmQuip has more than 500 cranes ranging in capacity from six to 716 tons, and 13 branch locations across 36 states. Maxim, founded in 1966, operates 31 branches and more than 1,400 cranes.

 

Apollo would acquire Maxim from Platinum Equity LLC, which took the company private in 2008 for about $600 million. The AmQuip deal is with Clearlake Capital Group LP, which acquired that company in 2014 for an undisclosed amount.

 

The combined company will include senior executives from each company, and the AmQuip and Maxim brands will continue as part of the combined organization. Maxim CEO Bryan Carlisle is expected to serve as chief executive officer of the combined business. AmQuip CEO Al Bove will continue to run the AmQuip operation, serve on the combined company’s leadership team as well as play a senior role in the integration process. 

 

Barclays is serving as financial advisor to Apollo, Harris Williams & Co. and Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. are serving as financial advisors to AmQuip and Clearlake, and Goldman, Sachs & Co. is serving as financial advisor to Maxim. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is serving as legal advisor to Apollo, Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth and Cooley LLP are serving as legal advisors to Clearlake, and Latham & Watkins LLP is serving as legal advisor to Platinum Equity. The debt financing for these transactions is being committed to by J.P. Morgan Chase Bank N.A., Wells Fargo, Barclays, and Jefferies Finance LLC, and Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP and Otterbourg P.C. are serving as their legal counsel.