Manitowoc had first announced the deal at the start of the year. The deal would have seen the two companies building mobile cranes together, and would have made Shantui the exclusive dealer of Grove all terrains and rough terrains sold in the country.
At the time, Manitowoc Cranes president Eric Etchart said, "Manitowoc has been developing its own presence in the Chinese truck crane market and we are now ready to move to the next stage of development with a stronger and larger partner. This new arrangement will not only create a new leading manufacturer of mobile cranes in China, but it will also boost sales of Grove AT and RT cranes in the country through Shantui’s excellent dealer network."
Announcing the termination of the deal, Manitowoc explained that Shantui had cited China’s economic restructuring and the sharp decline in the construction machinery market in China, which have adversely impacted Shantui, have affected governmental investment policies and investment ideas in the construction industry, and which in turn have led to delays in obtaining the necessary governmental approvals for the joint venture.
Glenn Tellock, Manitowoc’s CEO, said, ""We are disappointed with Shantui’s decision and the fact that the Chinese government did not act to timely approve our potential joint venture as we believed that there was enormous potential presented by the successful collaboration of Manitowoc and Shantui in the truck crane industry. In the meantime, we will evaluate our options with our current partner, Tai’an Taishan Heavy Industry Investment Co., Ltd., with respect to the future of the Manitowoc Dong Yue business."
Correction: the original version of this story described Shantui as a truck crane manufacturer. It has been amended to describe the company as a construction equipment manufacturer.
