PAT Group, manufacturer of operator assistance devices, is planning to double in size by the end of 2003, according to chief executive Laurie Burns.
Growth is to be achieved mostly by acquisitions, with the service retrofit market being a particular target. “There are sufficient funds available for us to double the size of the company without natural growth,” Burns told Cranes Today at Bauma.
The PAT Group, which also includes Krüger and Ascorel as well as PAT itself, is one of four divisions of Aditron, which in turn is part of the massive German Rheinmetal corporation.
The PAT Group is active in two key markets: construction machinery and traffic management. It tends to be popularly labelled as simply an LMI company. “But we are wider than that,” said Burns.
On possible acquisitions, Burns said he was looking to grow in the retrofit market. PAT is strong with OEMs, he said but had “whole spots on the map” regarding retrofit and service activity. “This may be an acquisition target for us.” It was a market without too many players, he said.
Other acquisition targets might be in “the wider of the controls route”, he said.
The acquisition trail began last year when PAT Group bought Compucrane, the crane selection and lift planning software company.
Burns, a British civil engineer, joined PAT in 1999 to develop the traffic management side of the business and moved to chief executive last year.
