Sunstate is the seventh-largest equipment rental company in the USA

Sumitomo Corporation has acquired the remaining 20% interest in Sunstate Equipment Co through its subsidiary, SMS International Corporation, making Sunstate a wholly owned company of Sumitomo Corporation Group.

Sunstate is the seventh-largest equipment rental company in the United States and the 24th largest in the world. With its 40 years of industry experience, Sunstate has grown from a single Arizona location to over 60 branches in nine states, employing nearly 1,600 staff.

The United States is currently experiencing rapidly deteriorating infrastructure systems, for which repairs are estimated to exceed billions of dollars over the next 10 years. This, in turn, provides anticipated growth for the equipment rental industry, which already exceeds USD30 billion and is expected to continue to grow due to the demand for infrastructure projects.

Sumitomo became engaged with Sunstate in 2009 with its first investment in its Convertible Preferred Interests. As a minority shareholder, Sumitomo was focused on strengthening a partnership with Sunstate's management while gaining an understanding of the industry. This led to Sumitomo acquiring the controlling interest of Sunstate in 2012 by increasing its ownership of Common Membership Interest to 80%. Since 2009, Sunstate has expanded its business and tripled sales.

Sumitomo says it is looking forward to contributing to the further expansion of Sunstate and the US economy by involvement in infrastructure construction projects and by creating employment within this field.

Sunstate provides construction, industrial and special event companies with top quality rental equipment and tools through its locations in California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Tennessee.