Morris and KCI Konecranes continue their quest for global domination of the EOT market

Further acquisitions mark the continuing global expansion of rival overhead travelling crane manufacturers Morris Material Handling and KCI Konecranes.

Morris has purchased two Australian companies, the materials handling company Powerlec Pty Ltd and crane builder JDN Monocrane, as well as Overhead Crane Service & Supply Company Ltd of Canada.

Powerlec, now called Morris Powerlec, is based in Sydney and has a strong reputation for equipment service and specialised material handling projects, according to the new owner. Melbourne-based JDN Monocrane is a regional manufacturer of overhead travelling cranes, jib cranes and electric hoists. The Australian acquisitions give Morris representation and offices in Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane.

Morris vice president for Middle East and Asia Pacific markets Mike Maddock said that the Australia investment was “an important step in our strategy to develop the Morris Material Handling business worldwide”.

Though Morris Blooma in Singapore and Morris Asia Pacific Malaysia are well established, Morris had been absent from Australia for 10 years.

Meanwhile, in Canada, the acquisition of Overhead Crane Service & Supply Company (OCS) was described by Morris as “a significant opportunity to increase sales of Morris and P&H branded products in eastern Canada”.

OCS was started in 1965 and is based in Burlington, Ontario. It provides standard overhead cranes to the general industrial marketplace, maintenance services on all makes of cranes, modernisation of existing cranes, replacement parts for all makes of crane, and operator, safety and maintenance training programmes.

No redundancies are expected among the 70 OCS employees, Morris said. Chris White, formerly president of Overhead Crane Service, remains as general manager. David White, formerly vice president of sales for OCS, continues as general sales manager.

KCI Konecranes has agreed the takeover of the German crane manufacturers Trost & Hilterhaus GmbH and Kran-und Stahlbau Ludwig GmbH. The purchase price has not been disclosed but the two companies have total net sales of about DM28m ($17m).

According to KCI Konecranes president Stig Gustavson, these deals make it among the four biggest standard EOT crane suppliers in Germany, one of the largest EOT markets in the world.

“Together with the group’s service network which was acquired in 1997 from the MAN Group, the acquired companies will place KCI Konecranes into the top league among German suppliers,” said Gustavson.

Trost & Hilterhaus’s sales and administration office is in Ansbach while its engineering and production takes place in Roth, both close to Nürnberg. Kran-und Stahlbau Ludwig is based in Liebengrün. Both companies were jointly owned by Helmut Trost and Friedrich Hilterhaus, who remain as joint managing directors of the companies.

In October KCI Konecranes announced the acquisition of Overhead Crane Service Inc of Pennsylvania, USA.

In August Konecranes Canada announced that it had paid C$1.6m (about $1m) in cash to Andaurex Industries Inc to acquire most of the assets and business of Provincial International Cranes Inc. Provincial no longer manufactures cranes but is attractive to Konecranes as it provides opportunities in the maintenance business. The acquisition includes sales records and drawings for 8,000 cranes.

Meanwhile Street Crane Company of the UK has made its first move into North America by signing up six distributors with exclusive territory franchises.

With North America undergoing a market shake-out, Street Crane managing director, Andrew Pimblett believes that, as an independent company, Street is an attractive partner to those regional crane manufacturers who are uneasy about sourcing hoists, end trucks and other components from companies which are also their competitors.

Said Pimblett: “Building high value component sales through partnering with other crane companies in overseas markets is the backbone of our export strategy. This has worked extremely well for us in Europe, the Middle East, Pacific Rim and South Africa.” • For more on the world of EOTs, issue 3 of HOIST – the international factory crane magazine – is out now.

For more information tel: +44 1322 277 788 or fax: +44 1322 276 487.