Columbus McKinnon Corp. has an agreement to buy Stahl CraneSystems from Konecranes plc for a reported $240 million in cash, a move that expands its presence in Europe for supplying hoist and crane parts. Reportedly, the purchase will make Columbus McKinnon the world's second-largest manufacturer of hoists, and expand its own line of material handling products to include explosion-protected hoists, and parts used in mining, oil-and-gas exploration, and chemical processing..
Konecranes is divesting Stahl CraneSystems in order to meet the terms set out by the European Union’s anti-trust review of its pending acquisition of Terex Corporation's Material Handling & Port Solutions business.
Buffalo-based Columbus McKinnon designs and produces handling products for moving, lifting, and positioning materials, including hoists, cranes, actuators, and rigging tools. Among its subsidiary operations is a closed-die steel forging company, Dixie Industries.
In recent years it has been expanding its manufacturing portfolio in a series of acquisitions, including Magnetek Inc., Stahlhammer Bommern GmbH, and Unified Industries Inc.
“We have long viewed Stahl as an ideal complement to Columbus McKinnon EMEA, as well as an excellent expansion of our global product offering,” commented Timothy T. Tevens, president and CEO. “Their strong position with wire rope and electric chain hoists in Europe immediately complements our leadership of handheld hoists in that region, and their broad portfolio of ATEX-certified explosion-protected products serving the mining, oil-and-gas, and chemical processing industries significantly extends our global offerings in capability and capacities.”
Tevens also noted that Columbus McKinnon and Stahl “are culturally aligned,” referring to common marketing strategies, quality production standards, and customer service. “They also have strong, established relationships with EPC (i.e., ‘engineering procurement and construction’) firms for key end-user solutions.”
Stahl has approximately 650 employees at a manufacturing plant in Germany, and nine sales operations worldwide.
Columbus McKinnon expects to close the acquisition during the first quarter of 2017. The closing is subject to European Commission approval, the successful closing of the pending acquisition of certain Terex subsidiaries by Konecranes, and other customary conditions. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as lead financial advisor. Moelis & Company LLC was also a financial advisor to the Company. DLA Piper (Hamburg, Germany and New York City, New York) served as outside counsel on the transaction and financing. Latham and Watkins (Brussels, Belgium and Frankfurt, Germany) handled the regulatory review and filing.
