KCI Konecranes said on 30 December that the competition authority approvals, upon which the acquisition depended, have been received, and so the transaction was closed the same day.
The sale price will be approximately Euro 65m ($54.6m), although the final price will be determined after closing the balance sheet in January 2006, said R Stahl AG. It will receive about half of the money, Euro 30.5m, in cash, it said, and a further cash award of about Euro 5m after the balance sheet is closed if there is enough net working capital, KCI Konecranes said . Konecranes has also bought Euro 30m worth of R Stahl Foerdertechnik (R. Stahl material handling division) liabilities – primarily pension obligations, R Stahl AG said.
As a result of the sale, R. Stahl Foerdertechnik has been renamed Stahl Cranesystems, and has a new web site, www.stahlcranes.com, and a new logo. Email addresses have also been changed.
According to former parent R Stahl AG, the new company is largely what it used to be, but under new ownership: “Staff, products and the Stahl Material Handling brand will continue as a strategic core division of KCI Konecranes. Existing company agreements and the employment pact effective in autumn 2004 will remain unaffected. The Kuenzelsau and Ettlingen locations remain intact.”
KCI Konecranes said that Stahl CraneSystems will form part of its Standard Lifting Equipment business area.
Spokesmen for both KCI Konecranes and R Stahl have been adamant that KCI Konecranes will maintain the vast majority of the R Stahl hoist and crane product line.
KCI Konecranes first announced its plans to buy the company in October. It was a deal that appears to have largely surprised the industry.
The deal offers KCI Konecranes a new product line, more cranes to maintain and a greater penetration into Germany, Europe’s biggest hoist and crane market. It also includes all of R Stahl Foerdertechnik’s 13 international subsidiaries.
The deal offers R Stahl Foerdertechnik a chance to focus on cranes at a time when its former parent company, R Stahl AG, is developing a new approach to its explosion-proof switch gear business. “This was not an easy decision. However, we see a better medium to long-term future for Material Handling under KCI Konecranes. Moreover, the fund inflow will allow us to expand our high-tech division explosion protection more vigorously,” R. Stahl AG CEO Martin Schomaker said.
R. Stahl Material Handling had 2004 sales of EUR 113m ($154m) corresponding to 44% of R. Stahl group sales and had a EBITDA profit margin of 5%, according to KCI Konecranes, which also said it expects 2005 results to be better.
