Terex Lifting has made its long-anticipated move into the tower crane sector by acquiring, not one, but two tower crane manufacturers: Peiner of Germany and Gru Comedil of Italy.
While both brands will be retained they will together form Terex Towers, an operating unit of Terex Lifting.
With combined sales of $45m, Peiner and Gru Comedil will together become the third biggest force in tower cranes, behind Potain and Liebherr.
No major restructuring is planned, said Terex Lifting president Fil Filipov. “We’ll just produce more at a better cost and do what we do best – steal market share from competitors.” Filipov is targeting sales of £100m in tower cranes for 1999.
“The combination of Comedil and Peiner creates significant distribution benefits and product rationalisation opportunities,” said Filipov.
“These acquisitions also give us the opportunity to aggressively introduce tower cranes to North and South America.
“Both companies also bring strong entrepreneurial management. Ferruccio Moritsch and Dieter Sorg will continue as managing directors of Comedil and Peiner, respectively, providing the leadership to execute our growth oriented business plan.” Filipov would not disclose the purchase price but said that both companies were profitable under their previous owners. Peiner was owned by Preussag Noell, Comedil was owned jointly by Casagrande and the Moritsch family.
Kent Johnson, formerly Terex Aerials sales & marketing director, has moved across to Terex Towers to fulfill the same function.
