Out of the rental yard: Tadano hands back the Texas branches it inherited with Manitex
Tadano has sold Rabern Rentals, the four-branch Texas rental business it picked up with the Manitex International acquisition, to Sunbelt Rentals. The deal removes an awkward overlap with Tadano’s own rental customers.
A business Tadano did not set out to buy
Tadano Ltd. has completed the sale of Rabern Rentals to Sunbelt Rentals with effect from 17 September 2025. Rabern came into the group in January 2025 as part of the acquisition of Manitex International, rather than as a target in its own right. The sale covers four locations in northern Texas: Hereford, Lubbock and two in Amarillo.
Everything else acquired in the Manitex transaction stays with Tadano. That includes Manitex Inc., the Italian knuckle boom crane maker PM Oil & Steel S.p.A. and Manitex Valla S.r.l., which builds pick-and-carry cranes, together with their subsidiaries.
Manufacturer or competitor
The reasoning Tadano gives is structural rather than financial. Owning a rental fleet puts a manufacturer on the same side of the counter as the rental houses that buy its cranes, and rental is a different business with different working-capital demands and different priorities from designing and building lifting equipment.
“Tadano’s core expertise is designing, manufacturing and supporting the most dependable lifting and access equipment, and the Rabern Rentals sale reflects our commitment to staying true to that focus. Rental operations require a different business model and priorities. Under Sunbelt Rentals ownership, Rabern Rentals will have the flexibility and focus necessary to continue growing its rental business and better serve customers.”
— Dean Barley, president and CEO, Tadano America Corporation, Tadano Mantis and Tadano Manitex
What it signals for the Manitex integration
The divestment is one of the clearer signals of how Tadano intends to digest Manitex International: keep the manufacturing and product lines, shed the parts of the group that do not fit a manufacturer’s remit. Tadano frames the move as reinforcing its position as a supplier to rental companies rather than a competitor to them, and says it frees management attention and capital for product development and customer support in lifting and access equipment.
For Sunbelt, the addition of four established northern Texas branches extends an existing regional footprint. Neither party disclosed a price.
Tadano’s remaining North American structure after the sale covers crane manufacturing and distribution through Tadano America Corporation and Tadano Mantis, plus the Manitex boom truck and knuckle boom business — since consolidated under the Tadano brand — and the aerial work platform lines. The group says it remains committed to product development and customer support across that portfolio.
Source: Tadano — Photos: Tadano