Acquired AMI Business Units

The fleet leasing and management company expands its specialized market share and strengthens its presence in New England. The purchase boosts Emkay to among the industry’s top three closed-end lease portfolios. Expanding its presence in the market niche that it has served since 1946, fleet leasing and management company Emkay, Inc., recently acquired two AMI business units, Automotive Rental Corporation (ARC) and special business services. The AMI units were a good match in business style and portfolio to Emkay’s existing client base, according to Chris Tepas, group VP of marketing and sales. Headquartered in Itasca, Ill., not far from Chicago, Emkay specializes in mid-size fleets. “We serve fleets that may need more customization with their fleet programs. Our customers have not only the fleet hat, but also two or three other hats to wear. They need us to do a little bit more handholding and to customize our services to help make their job easier. The bulk of the Worcester, Massachusetts-based AMI’s strength was in New England. “Again, the match was very complimentary toward our portfolio of customers,” said Tepas. “While Emkay was certainly much stronger along the entire East coast, we may not have been as strong as AMI in New England. That was their niche.” Emkay’s managed unit volume now totals “at or about 60,000,” up about a third, Tepas estimated. Nearly half of the leases acquired from AMI are closed end, putting Emkay among the industry’s top three for closed end fleets. Emkay’s TRAC lease portfolio now ranks in the top seven for the U.S. market, according to company officials. Domestic revenues exceed $400 million after the acquisition. Jack Rennels, Emkay senior VP, has been appointed president of ARC operations. The company plans to establish a new office in Massachusetts, between Worcester and Boston. Tepas predicts that the client-transfer will be “fairly painless” for customers. “Fortunately, both companies have much in common. The systems are important, and we have an internal team that’s been working on them since the acquisition process began.” To smooth the transition for clients, Emkay added several information technology staff members “who were either experts in the specific programming we need or in the fleet industry in general,” Tepas noted. The fleet management industry’s only employee-owned firm, Emkay is also a Unico company with partnerships throughout Europe.