Industrial Hoist Services Acquires Two Louisiana Industrial Equipment Companies

CHICAGO, Ill.—June 30, 2006: Industrial Hoist Services, LP, a portfolio company of Chicago private equity firm Prospect Partners, LLC, has announced the simultaneous acquisitions of two Louisiana-based industrial equipment companies: B&H Air Tools, LLC, of Baton Rouge, and Port Rentals, Inc., of New Iberia. With the acquisitions, Industrial Hoist Services, the country's leading provider of hoisting, rigging and winching equipment for rental, sale or service, deepens its product line, extends its geographic coverage and reaches new industry segments, including offshore petrochemical markets.


Founded in 1972, B&H Air Tools specializes in industrial equipment rentals, sales and servicing, primarily to the petrochemical refinery, offshore drilling and shipbuilding industries. In addition to hoist, winch and rigging equipment, the company rents, sells and repairs pneumatic, electrical and hydraulic tools as well as lifting and handling equipment and accessories typically used for construction projects, plant turnarounds and manufacturing plants.

Port Rentals is a four-year-old company that has quickly penetrated the offshore and onshore oilfield industries, providing rental equipment, maintenance and repairs as well as dive-related equipment for underwater use.

"It is our goal to be the single resource for the lifting and tugging needs of a broad range of large industrial users for such applications as plant shutdowns, routine repair and maintenance, new construction and safety inspection work," says Kevin P. Rodgers, Industrial Hoist Services' Chief Executive officer. "B&H Air Tools and Port Rentals are well-known niche companies whose products overlap and complement those of Industrial Hoist. We now have the nation's most extensive fleet of hoists, winches and related rigging equipment and have expanded our offering into air tools and many other types of equipment needed by the industries we serve."

In addition, the companies' locations near the Gulf of Mexico give Industrial Hoist a more substantial presence in one of its key markets while paving the way for greater involvement in offshore drilling and related petrochemical industries, Mr. Rodgers says.

Adds James G. Kowalik, President of Industrial Hoist Services, "We are extremely excited to join forces with the talented management of B&H Air Tools and Port Rentals. Both are well-known companies run by people with decades of experience in the rental equipment business."

The B&H Air Tools management team includes company founder Grady Bullock, Sr.; David Nault, Operations Manager; Joe Davis, Sales Manager; Grady Bullock, Jr., Outside Sales; and Cliff Bullock, Purchasing Manager. Port Rentals is co-run by Neecie Falgout and Scott Guidry.

Industrial Hoist Services will continue to seek additional acquisition opportunities of companies involved in the rental and sales of industrial lifting equipment.

About Prospect Partners, LLC

Prospect Partners, LLC of Chicago is a leading lower-middle-market private equity firm, managing $270 million in two private funds. Since its inception in 1998, Prospect Partners has focused on management-led leveraged acquisitions of niche leaders with revenues typically between $10 and $30 million; the firm has invested in nearly 55 companies within many niche consumer, commercial, specialty distribution and select service markets throughout the United States.