Coates Hire


Coates Hire is Australia's largest equipment rental company operating in every Australian state and territory as well as Indonesia. It is a fully owned subsidiary of Seven Group Holdings. As of 2019, Coates Hire has over A$1.7 billion of hire equipment at original cost which is more than three times the offering of the next largest general hire competitor. The company is led by Ryan Stokes, son of Kerry Stokes and Murray Vitlich.
The company is headquartered in Mascot, New South Wales.

History

Coates Hire was founded in 1885 as a small engineering company in Melbourne. It diversified into equipment hire in the years following World War II when a vibratory roller was purchased and leant to potential customers on a try before you buy policy. Coates Hire was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in 1955. In 1972 Coates Hire was purchased by Australian National Industries.
In 1993 it commenced operations in Indonesia. In August 1996 it was relisted on the ASX. In 2002, Wreckair was acquired from Brambles Limited.
In January 2008, it was delisted from the ASX when acquired by private investors The Carlyle Group and the National Hire Group. The hire businesses of Coates Hire and the National Hire Group were merged to consolidate the two largest hire companies in Australia.
On 25 October 2017, Seven Group Holdings acquired the remaining 53% from The Carlyle Group as well as from minority owners. Seven Group Holdings had first invested in Coates Hire, alongside The Carlyle Group and management in 2008 through its WesTrac subsidiary.

Sponsorships

Coates Hire has been a regular sponsor of Supercars teams and events. It was title sponsor for Nick Percat’s 2012 Development Series, 2013 Australian Carrera Cup Championship and 2014 V8 Supercars Championship campaigns. It was previously the title sponsor for the Ipswich SuperSprint, Sydney 500 and the Supercars Challenge and currently sponsors the Melbourne 400 and the Newcastle 500.