KCI Konecranes has agreed the takeover of the crane maintenance business of Noell Service und Maschinentechnik GmbH in Germany. The vendor is Preussag Noell, a subsidiary of Babcock Borsig. Noell Service’s crane maintenance business is the largest independent crane maintenance operation in Germany.
The deal requires the approval of the German antitrust authority but is expected to be completed in May.
KCI Konecranes claimed that this acquisition takes it into second place in the German crane market, which is Europe’s largest.
Noell Service’s crane maintenance is active mainly in Germany but carries out large modernisations of harbour cranes worldwide. It has annual sales of about DM65m ($32m) and has 312 employees. Noell Service’s main crane maintenance locations are in Hanover, Hamburg, Halle, Frankfurt am Main and in Würzburg. The aquired maintenance service activities will be consolidated into Konecranes’ Pro Kran Service operations, headquartered in Feldkirchen near Munich and set up into a new company called Noell Konecranes. The employees will remain but a new managing director will be appointed from the KCI Konecranes group.
The acquisition gives KCI Konecranes one of the most recognized brand names in the special crane industry. Noell Service’s field maintenance, modernisations and EOT crane business have a strong presence in the German steel mill industry. The service and modernisation business is also strong in harbours and ports in Germany and internationally. The acquisition will also boost the company’s modernisation business in ports.
KCI Konecranes’ previous entries to the German market were the acquisitions of MAN SWF in 1997 and Trost & Hilterhaus in 1998, both of which are predominantly engaged in standard lifting equipment.
Earlier this year KCI Konecranes entered the special crane market in Germany through the acquisition of Külicke. Following the Noell Service acquisition, all of KCI Konecranes’ business areas now have a strong foothold in Germany, the company said.
Babcock Borsig has also sold a majority share of its dockside crane and container handling business, Noell Stahl und Maschinenbau. The purchaser of this division was Fantuzzi-Reggiane of Italy. Under the terms of the deal, agreed in January, a new holding company, Noell Crane Systems GmbH (NCS), has been set up which is 80% owned by Fantuzzi-Reggiane, but with Babcock Borsig retaining a 20% interest.
The NCS business includes sites in Würzburg, Germany and in Abu Dhabi, UAE. It also includes the 70% interest in Noell’s Chinese joint venture, PNCM. Fantuzzi-Reggiane and NCS will remain separate companies.
