Terex offloads Atlas knuckleboom cranes
11 March 2010Terex has announced that is divesting its Terex Atlas heavy construction equipment business.
Product lines being divested in the transaction include knuckleboom truck loader cranes, Terex Atlas branded material handlers, and crawler, wheel and rail excavators. The transaction also includes the Terex Atlas UK distribution business for truck loader cranes in the UK, as well as the sales and service business located in Bradford, UK, and the Terex minority ownership position in the Atlas Chinese joint venture
Terex compact equipment made in Germany, namely mini and midi-excavators and compact wheel loaders, as well as the Terex Fuchs material handler line, will remain with Terex as part of the construction business segment. Also not part of the transaction are Terex rigid and articulated trucks, backhoe-loaders and other products manufactured in the UK.
Some 800 staff members in Germany and the UK employed by the businesses are being transferred to the new owner.
The transaction, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2010.
The decision to divest the Atlas business is the latest move in a series of efforts by Terex to realign itself as the new economy develops, including the sale of its mining business to Bucyrus International.
"The Atlas divestiture is another important step forward in the strategic repositioning of Terex," said Ron DeFeo, Terex chairman and chief executive officer. "We acquired the Atlas business in 2001 with the intention of having a quality full-size excavator as part of a globally competitive portfolio of construction equipment.
“Our goal was to grow the regionally strong Atlas excavator product as part of this strategy, but we were, for various reasons, never able to achieve the product cost advantage required for it to be successful. Despite restructuring attempts, the tough economic conditions in 2009 resulted in an operating loss for this business in excess of USD61m on sales of approximately USD194m, with approximately two-thirds of the loss coming from the construction products."
