January 16, 2008—CORT, a Berkshire Hathaway company and a leading furniture provider in the “rent-to-rent” industry in the United States, has acquired Roomservice Group as part of an expansion into the United Kingdom.
The new UK operation, Roomservice by CORT, is CORT’s first international acquisition in the company’s 35-year history. Roomservice by CORT will provide furniture rental and design solutions for residential and commercial properties. In addition, the business will continue to provide furniture rental services to multi-national corporations, relocation service providers and their agents to support the relocation of international assignees.
The acquisition followed a long-standing relationship between the two companies. Roomservice, a member of CORT’s global partner network in 50 countries, was CORT’s preferred provider in the UK for the past six years, doing business primarily in London and the surrounding region.
Jeff Pederson, President of CORT, commented, “The purchase of Roomservice is our first acquisition outside of the US, and clearly demonstrates our commitment to developing our global network of furniture solutions and relocation services. We believe our new UK operation will be ideally positioned to capitalize on a number of growth sectors, including the increased interest in institutional ownership of residential property.”
Roger Hollis, Managing Director of Roomservice, said, “We are excited to now be owned by CORT, which will enable us to expand our operations throughout the UK. Having worked as CORT’s preferred supplier in the UK for the past six years, we have a very good understanding of how the wider business operates and as a part of a Berkshire Hathaway company we will now benefit from strong financial resources and a global presence. We have always been impressed with CORT’s approach, which combines a strong global business strategy with the flexibility to deliver at a local level.”
For more information, visit the CORT.
