US lifting equipment manufacturer Columbus McKinnon has completed a review of strategic alternatives and opted to scale back the company rather than sell it.

President and chief executive officer Timothy Tevens explained that the company had explored sale and merger options over the past year, but has instead decided to rationalise and streamline operations.

Tevens said: “Operationally, we have identified several areas of our business which will benefit from product line and manufacturing process rationalisation as well as further integration of operations. We anticipate that these initiatives will have a significant favourable impact on our cost structure and our ability to better serve our customers. Financially, we will focus on strengthening our balance sheet and lowering our debt-to-equity ratio while at the same time continuing to analyse strategic acquisitions to strengthen our optimal business mix.”