Nesco Specialty Rentals, a provider of rental equipment to the electric utility, telecom and rail endmarkets, announced it has hired rental industry veteran Rob Blackadar as its president.

Blackadar brings 25 years of experience in the rental and equipment industry and demonstrated success in driving strong financial and operating results in senior leadership roles across sales and operations, the company said. He joins Nesco from Blueline Rental, where he served as Senior Vice President and Division Vice President with responsibility for companywide operations across the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, including fleet management, service, equipment sales and safety.

Blackadar also held responsibility for the financial results of Blueline’s Eastern division, which represented half of the company’s business. As one of the senior leaders of Blueline, he led major growth initiatives and operational improvements across the company’s nationwide network, driving a turnaround in the business and supporting the ultimate sale of the company to United Rentals.

Prior to joining Blueline, Blackadar held a range of leadership and sales roles with United Rentals, Herc Rentals and Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers.

In April, Capitol Investment Corp. IV, a public investment vehicle, and Nesco Holdings I, Inc. announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement in which Nesco will become a publicly listed company with an anticipated initial enterprise value of approximately $1.1 billion.

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2019.

Under the terms of the proposed transaction, Capitol will become the owner of all the equity of Nesco and will be renamed Nesco Holdings, Inc.

Acquisition Target
On May 13, Nesco entered into a non-binding letter of intent with a potential acquisition target in the equipment rental business. The purchase price is approximately $42 million. The acquisition remains subject to further diligence, negotiation of definitive agreements and satisfaction of the conditions negotiated therein, the company said.