Who are Europe’s largest 50 equipment rental companies

Leading the list is Loxam, whose business is dominated by Europe, but which also has activities in Brazil and the Middle East. Loxam is followed in the top five by Boels Rental, Modulaire, Kiloutou and Sunbelt Rentals in the UK and Ireland.

The world’s largest rental company, United Rentals, is also in the European top 50 at number 34 by virtue of its 41-depot rental businesses in the Netherlands, the UK, Belgium and Germany.

Revenues of €21.6 billion

The top 50 companies generated revenues of €21.6 billion in 2025, a 3.3% increase over 2024. This represents a 63% share of the total European rental market of €34 billion, estimated by the European Rental Association (ERA) and its consultant KPMG.

Euro50 equipment rental company revenues for 2025 (excluding activities outside Europe). (Image: KHL Group)

The Euro50, which has been generated from the recently published IRN100 global list, shows that Europe’s biggest rental companies have grown modestly over the past three years, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.1% between 2023 and 2025.

ERA/KPMG is forecasting an even more modest CAGR of 1.7% for Europe’s rental market between 2025 and 2027.

The bar chart shown here also indicates that growth of the top 50 companies has stalled over the past three years following the quick Covid rebound in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

The top 10 represent 50% of the total

Revenues in the top 50 are dominated by the largest 10 companies, which together accounted for €11.3 billion of revenues in Europe. That is 52% of the top 50 total. These top 10 firms represent around a third of the total European equipment rental market.

As many as 35 of the top 50 companies operate almost entirely in Europe, with 15 having significant revenues outside of Europe, such as Loxam, Modulaire (Australasia) and crane rental companies Sarens and Mammoet (both worldwide).

Some in the list are the European operations of very large global players, such as Sunbelt Rentals and United Rentals – both generating the lion’s share of sales in North America – as well as Aggreko, Atlas Copco Specialty Rental and Xylem Water Solutions, the pump specialist.

The case of United Rentals is interesting. The company does not split out the revenues for its business in Europe, so we have made an estimate based on the scale of its published ‘international business’ revenues – anything outside the US – and the number of rental locations in Europe (around 41).

United has expanded in Europe through acquisitions and although our estimate of €200 million revenue places it at number 34 in the Euro50, it is expanding and clearly has the means to be as big as it wants to be in Europe.

The impact of specialty rentals

What is perhaps surprising is the number of specialist rental businesses in the top 50, with around 22 in total. These include modular specialists as well as pumps, power, cranes, traffic management and portable sanitation.

Given the popularity of specialty rentals, you can imagine a situation where these specialists are increasingly acquired by generalist players.

The 3.3% growth in the Euro50 between 2024 and 2025 probably exceeds overall market growth, because many of the largest businesses generate their revenues in Germany, France and the UK, which have all been experiencing flat or low growth rates.

Trend in top50 equipment rental revenues in Europe from 2019 to 2025. (Source KHL Group)

The slightly higher figure reflects the ability of rental businesses to expand through acquisition even in unhelpful market environments. Kiloutou and Zeppelin Rental are among those who have been buying rental businesses over the past 18 months.

A note on our revenue estimates

While some of the estimates are easier to make than others, readers should note that the European revenue figures for companies including Xylem and Atlas Copco Specialty Rentals have been more difficult to calculate.

In the case of Xylem, the European revenue figure is itself based on our estimate for the global rental operation.

Likewise for traffic management business Ramudden Global, where the estimate has been made using the published geographical split in its total revenues but based on an estimate of the rental component of these revenues.

The full IRN100 survey can be found in the June issue of Rental & Access International magazine, which is available here as a digital magazine.