United Rentals, the world’s largest equipment company, is acquiring Baton Rouge-based H&E Equipment Services in a $4.8 billion deal, the companies announced Tuesday morning.  Per the deal, United Rentals will acquire H&E for $92 per share in cash, reflecting a total enterprise value of approximately $4.8 billion, including approximately $1.4 billion of net debt.  Founded in 1961 as a distribution company, H&E recently repositioned itself as a pure play rental business and it maintains a network of approximately 2,900 employees in 160 branches across 30 states. As of July, the company’s branch footprint had expanded by 45% over the previous 36 months with 23 new branches either being opened or acquired in the past year, according to its Q2 earnings report.  The combination is expected to generate approximately $130 million of annualized cost synergies within 24 months of closing, primarily in the areas of corporate overhead and operations.  The deal is consistent with United Rentals’ “grow the core” strategy. The publicly traded company has an integrated network of 1,571 rental locations in North America, as well as dozens of locations in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.  To close the deal, United Rentals plans to commence a tender offer by Jan. 28 to acquire all of the outstanding shares of H&E common stock for $92 per share in cash. After completing the tender offer, United Rentals will acquire all remaining shares not tendered in the offer through a second-step merger at the same price as in the tender offer. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025. The boards of directors of both United Rentals and H&E unanimously approved the transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions.  “I couldn’t be more pleased with this win-win outcome for both organizations, our customers and our shareholders,” said H&E Executive Chair John Engquist in a prepared statement. “Importantly, I want to thank our employees for driving the results that made this transaction possible. I am confident that we’ve found an excellent landing spot for them and I am excited for the new opportunities they will have as part of United Rentals.” Take Our Poll