Although a deal looks increasingly hard to achieve, Manitowoc and Demag are still in talks about some kind of cooperation.
Manitowoc covets Demag’s telescopic mobiles and its bigger crawler cranes. Demag wants to extend its penetration of the US market.
“We are still talking to Demag,” said Manitowoc sales and marketing vice president Larry Weyers.
Demag Mobile Cranes marketing director Roland Schug said that Demag has a target of achieving a 30% share of the US market in lattice and telescopic boom cranes. A marketing deal with Manitowoc, Demag believes, could help achieve that goal. The prospect of Demag cranes being branded in the USA as Manitowocs is a possibility, Schug said.
Manitowoc, however, appears more interested in a merger or an acquisition rather than simply a marketing agreement, in spite of recently spending $300m on Potain, the French tower crane manufacturer.
“A merger makes sense,” said Weyers. “A marketing agreement to me doesn’t make sense. A marketing agreement is like being half pregnant.” The deal with Potain, which opens up the prospect of Manitowoc manufacturing crawler cranes in Europe, “doesn’t diminish our desire to team up with other crawler manufacturers,” Weyers said.
In the meantime, in case the Demag deal does not come off, Manitowoc is stepping up its efforts in the super heavylift division that Demag has generally dominated. Plans are being drawn up for a 21000 Ringer, with a twin boom. This would lift 2,000 US ton (1,800t) and compete with Mammoet’s massive PTC (Platform Twinring Containerised) cranes.
