TORONTO – Canada's largest film and TV production equipment rental company, William F. White International, has been sold to U.K. company Ashtead Group.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Paul Bronfman, chairman and CEO of Whites’ parent company Comweb, made the announcement Tuesday. The company, established in 1963, operates out of 13 locations across Canada and has over 450 employees.
Ashtead subsidiary, Sunbelt Rentals of Canada, will run Whites, which has benefited greatly from the explosion of TV and film production in Canada. “This growth is being fueled by the growing demand for media content worldwide driven largely by the thriving streaming services including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Crave, Disney+ and Apple TV+,” reads the press release.
“This transaction with Sunbelt is a watershed moment for me personally and Whites. As Canada’s production industry undergoes exponential growth, Whites faces the most exciting opportunity in the company’s history over the next few years. I felt it was time for Whites to align itself with a firm that has the resources, scale and culture to create growth opportunities for our employees. This enables the business to better serve our customers’ ever-expanding needs, allowing Sunbelt to take Whites to the next level. This deal is in the best interest of Whites and my employees,” said Bronfman in the release.
“Whites significantly enhances our capability to provide equipment to the film and television production market where increased demand for content is driving high growth opportunities,” added Ashtead CEO Brendan Horgan.
“The acquisition will provide significant opportunities to cross sell our existing product range in Canada and develop our offering to this end market in the U.S.”
Effective immediately, Bronfman becomes co-chairman of the Whites operating division executive board along with Ashtead Group CEO Brendan Horgan focusing on strategic growth of this exciting new platform.
