 "Punj Lloyd, Acropolis Capital Group join hand to create Asia's Largest virtual equipment bank")
The platform will partner with leading infrastructure companies in the region to create the largest virtual equipment bank in Asia. The participants can rent, sell and buy from each other via a robust auction-led process.
As the first peer-to-peer, equipment rental company in India, IronTread is aiming to transform the way contractors purchase and take rental decisions for construction equipment, otherwise one of the largest expenditures on their balance sheet, the two companies said in a statement. At present, contractors are forced to either buy equipment (which is used primarily for the duration of the project life), or rent them from a handful of leasing companies at high rental-yields. "IronTread's solution benefits both, the equipment owners, for whom the platform provides a new source of revenue, and renters, who can rent equipment at the marginal cost of ownership of their peers."
IronTread aims to keep expanding its equipment bank by growing the network of equipment owners. Over time, it aims to enter related industries such as agriculture, municipal-renting, and small-tool rental, and the proximate geographies of Africa, West Asia and South East Asia, which share similar economic drivers for this business, and where many such equipment banks also lie idle. Furthermore, IronTread is assembling the leading equipment financiers in India onto its platform to enable the creation of a parallel marketplace for financing the purchase of used construction equipment.
Annat Jain, managing partner, Acropolis Capital Group, said: "We're at the tail-end of a down-cycle in infrastructure development in India. As India emerges from this downturn, and the infrastructure industry takes center stage again, we'll be positioned for rapid growth."
Atul Punj, chairman, Punj Lloyd, said the platform addresses a core problem of all construction companies. "We're now in advanced stages of expanding IronTread's strategic partnership with India's largest infrastructure companies who are also keen to become strategic partners," he said.
The platform will enable renters to discover an ever-expanding network of equipment owners from whom they can rent or buy pre-verified equipment at significantly lower costs than any other available alternative. This is possible because IronTread provides renters access to the marginal cost of their peers' idle equipment. Such prices are further reduced through a proprietary online reverse-auction bidding process.
EPC contractors will be able to avoid capital expenditures and retain asset-light balance sheets, and equipment owners increase the capacity utilisation of their equipment by easily and safely renting to the universe of verified renters.
IronTread's online platform will not only provide real-time discovery of price and vendors, but also enable the transaction to close through a live, reverse-auction bidding process. IronTread will administer the contracts, and stand guarantor for credit, recovery, insurance, and contract settlement.
Furthermore, IronTread will underwrite an insurance policy for loss or damage of any construction equipment on its platform. It will be responsible for collecting all payments from the lessee and paying owners in a timely fashion, and as such, have eliminated risks of payment or non-recovery of assets.
