Tower crane manufacturer Potain of France has taken over the aerial work platform business of German company Liftlux.

Liftlux specialises in large, diesel powered scissor lifts and reported sales of E17m in 1999.

Liftlux has 27 types of scissor lift in its product range, 19 of which are diesel-powered, reaching heights up to 32m. The company has been renamed Liftlux Potain but remains based in Dillengen, in the Saar region of Germany, where it employs 65 people.

Also moving into the access equipment industry is Effer, the Italian loader crane manufacturer, which in March took over Bizzocchi Oleodinamica, the leading Italian manufacturer of truck-mounted aerial work platforms.

Bizzocchi manufactures a range of aerial platforms and stepladders for truck installation, with working heights up to 55m. It has plants in Bertinoro and Forli.

The Effer Group, founded by Giancarlo Monti in 1965, now expects sales to reach E65m by the end of 2000.