Lensrentals, a titan within the on-line rental service for photograph, video, audio and lighting tools, has introduced its acquisition of BorrowLenses, a key competitor within the area of photographic and video tools leases. It’s a aggressive area in a commodity market, the place neither model has an apparent edge over the opposite. Neither firm is prepared to touch upon the phrases of the deal, however a supply acquainted with the deal suggests that is probably an all-cash acquisition.
BorrowLenses, in flip, has had an attention-grabbing journey. The corporate was acquired by Shutterfly a couple of decade in the past. Shutterfly was public on the time, however was since acquired by Apollo — sure, the same Apollo that bought Yahoo, which owns TechCrunch — again in 2021.
Based in 2006, through the years Lensrentals obtained the sting over BorrowLenses, each when it comes to variety of workers and total variety of prospects. Working from its headquarters in Tennessee, Lensrentals has cultivated a repute for being an excellent place to work (the corporate is largely owned by its staff), and that takes care of its prospects properly.
Tyler Beckman, CEO of Lensrentals, tells TechCrunch that his firm has seen BorrowLenses as “friendly rivals” that “push each other to excel,” and that the corporate sees the acquisition as a possibility to lean into the advantages of working at larger scale.
“When you put ownership in the hands of employees, good things happen for customers. We look forward to all BorrowLenses customers getting to experience what I mean by that,” says Beckman.
It’s not but clear what the acquisition means to the job safety for the workers at BorrowLenses, nor the San Carlos location itself. A supply acquainted with the deal says that the acquisition is going on in a short time, and that the Lensrentals group is evaluating the viability of preserving the staff and the placement as the method unfolds.
BorrowLenses has a broad choice of gear — a supply on the firm says that its property should be built-in into Lensrentals’ present stock of greater than 400,000 rentable objects throughout greater than 6,000 totally different lenses, cameras, drones, lighting, audio and studio tools — which has enabled it to compete with native digital camera rental operations. Quick nationwide delivery and complete insurance coverage gave the corporate an edge over typically poorly run mom-and-pop digital camera rental outlets.
The corporate additionally launched the Lensrentals Keeper Program, which, with the casual slogan “if you like it, keep it,” allows prospects to buy gear they’ve rented at a decreased value. Photographers have embraced this system as a low danger to purchase secondhand gear: Do a couple of shoots with the lens, and if it really works properly, they purchase it at a steep low cost. It’s not unattainable that the newly merged firm will begin liquidating extra gear, so now could be the time to maintain an eye fixed out for good provides.
Just like Lensrentals, BorrowLenses boasts an in depth stock. The primary distinction between the businesses is their geographic footprints. BorrowLenses has established a robust presence in sure areas, complementing Lensrentals’ nationwide attain. This localized method — for some cause it’s extra reassuring if a lens get shipped a couple of hundred miles than hundreds of miles throughout the nation — has enabled BorrowLenses to domesticate shut relationships with its buyer base.
Over time, BorrowLenses has additionally positioned a robust emphasis on academic content material, providing ideas, tutorials and guides designed to assist prospects benefit from their rental expertise. This give attention to schooling and assist has not solely enhanced the client expertise however has additionally positioned BorrowLenses as a thought chief within the inventive business, dedicated to empowering photographers and videographers in any respect ability ranges.
In some ways, the acquisition represents an apparent one: Two corporations which might be so comparable that they’re arduous to maintain aside assist increase one another with small, incremental enhancements in localized presence and academic initiatives.
In fact, Beckman advised TechCrunch that Lensrentals was saved on its toes by the competitors from BorrowLenses. In principle, the client wins when a single, monolithic firm can reap the advantages of working at a larger scale. In observe, it stays to be seen if the costs will keep the identical and the bigger firm will be capable of retain its personal-touch repute when that component of pleasant rivalry is eliminated.
