Where’s Xena? Hertz Equipment Spinoff To Be Renamed Herc Rentals

Paging Kevin Sorbo! Speaking at an industry conference back in February, Larry Silber, CEO of Hertz’s (HTZ) equipment rental business and of its future spinoff, announced that the new company will change its name to Herc Rentals post-spin. Alas, the choice of ‘Herc’ had nothing to do with the Greek demigod and is merely the initials of the ‘Hertz Equipment Rental Corporation’. It seems the company was very conscientious of maintaining its legacy as part of Hertz, but also starting a fresh chapter as a new company. In the words of Mr. Silber:

We remain committed to building upon Hertz Equipment Rental’s strong brand reputation, which is founded on outstanding customer service, operational excellence and unmatched product and industry expertise…We plan a smooth transition to be sure our customers and partners know they are working with the same organization they have entrusted with their equipment rental needs for five decades. At the same time, we are excited by the opportunity to introduce Herc Rentals as a business that is rapidly evolving, with much more to offer customers, employees and prospective shareholders as we look ahead. We are driving significant changes across the HERC organization to improve customer service, diversify our product mix, upgrade existing product lines, enter new markets, expand our footprint and make it easier to do business with us. We are truly becoming a new business and we look forward to demonstrating that, every day, we also are becoming a better business.

Stylistically, the new company will also be connected to its past as ‘the initial capital, lowercase and italic letterforms of the brand mark connect the business to its 50-year-old Hertz brand legacy.’ Additionally, the yellow coloring above its name also evokes the Hertz colors.

This was certainly a safe choice for the company, but one that makes a lot of sense. Given its simplicity, they probably saved money on the consultants, but given the use of the usual marketing mumbo-jumbo…probably not.

The spinoff is still on track to be completed in the middle of this year and in addition to determining the new name, the company has also made progress on the spinoff by filling out its board of directors. It recently added James Browning and Herb Henkel, with the latter serving as non-Executive Chairman. No word yet on Mr. Sorbo’s availability though.

Disclosure: Author holds no position in any stock mentioned.

    Mentions

  • 💬 Marcin Zientek