With mining services companies booming,
it’s such a good time to float that there seem to be two Emecos planning to do
it.

Emeco Mark 1 is a $250 million company
whose float prospects are canvassed by Ian Porter in The Age.
Much racier is Emeco Mark 2 which is looking to raise $1.5 billion, according
to a Bloomberg report in TheSMH.

Both Emecos are 75% owned by
venture capitalists Archer Capital and
Pacific Equity Partners with management holding the rest. TheSMH
reckons the partnership purchased Emeco from forklift company Darr Equipment for about $500
million 15 months ago.

The Age‘s Emeco, being worth only $250
million, would mean Darr did a very nice deal, but the possibility of a $1.5
billion IPO sounds much more like the sort of buy’n’flick deal that venture
capitalists are interested in. Neither Emeco stories tells whether Archer
or PEP will maintain their holding or
sell out into the float – but I’d be pretty confident that it’s much more
likely to be the latter.

I recently did an interview with Perpetual
funds manager Sean Cunningham for EurekaReport.com.au. He identified mining
services companies as one of the market’s uncomfortably hot sectors – one that
could eventually cool down with a thump. My guess is that Emeco will be
bullishly floated before then and neither PEP nor Archer will be too closely
involved when the sector’s correction arrives.