Lensrentals, the largest online photo and video equipment rental and production resource company in the US, just got larger. Yesterday, the company announced that it had acquired the BorrowLenses brand along with some assets from its former competitor.
Lensrentals origin
Lensrentals was founded in 2006 and has its headquarters in Memphis. In addition, the company has additional facilities in Tennessee and Massachusetts. At more than 400,000 items, Lensrentals has the largest inventory of equipment for rental in the United States. The range of equipment includes gear for photography, video, audio, lighting and drones. Lensrentals ships to customers in all 50 states. There are also pickup and return services available to local customers in Memphis, TN and Concord, MA.
BorrowLenses origin
BorrowLenses was started in 2007 by two best friends, Mark Gurevich and Max Shevyakov, with just a handful of lenses. Its aim was to make gear more affordable to users through rentals. As the company grew, BorrowLenses added more cameras, lenses, lighting kits and audio equipment to its rental list. The company also rents out production support systems that are suitable for both novices and pros. From its headquarters in San Carlos, California, BorrowLenses delivers to all 50 states and offers local pick-up at several local and independent camera stores nationwide.
What has been announced?
Tyler Beckman, CEO of Lensrentals, said, “We’re collectively delighted and genuinely grateful to strengthen the Lensrentals family with the addition of the BorrowLenses brand, alongside whom we’ve served customers for nearly two decades, while pushing each other to excel. The acquisition will enable us to extend our high-quality rental and production experience to a growing customer base that demands the highest-quality technical equipment a creative needs to produce movies, video and audio, and photographic content, without the up-front expenses associated with buying gear outright and continued maintenance”.
What we think
Lensrentals and BorrowLenses have both supplied rental gear to filmmakers and photographers across the US for more than 17 years. As direct competitors, the acquisition makes sense and should be a straightforward process. Lensrentals customers will benefit from the company’s improved inventory. Former BorrowLenses customers should also find the move to Lensrentals doesn’t affect their workflow to any great extent. The only concern is whether the decrease in competition for Lensrentals affects pricing. Hopefully, the reduced choice of rental houses doesn’t have a negative financial impact on customers in the longer term.
