Konecranes completes MMH purchase

HMM first acquired a 59.2 per cent stake in MMH Holdings on 19 May 2006, and subsequently bought up two further blocks of shares before concluding the takeover with the latest deal. The total acquisition price for 100% ownership amounts to US$64.6m, according to the company. Net debt of approximately US$5m gives the enterprise a total value of around US$70m, which will be consolidated into Konecranes Group’s figures as of 1 June 2006.

Meanwhile Konecranes has won two new contracts to supply equipment to ports in Russia and Ukraine. One is to supply 19 lift-truck units to Black Sea giant Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port (NCSP); these consist of forklift trucks of capacities from 10–32 tonnes and reach handlers of 45 tonnes capacity. All the units are powered by Volvo engines and equipped with Konecranes’ fuel-saving hydraulic load-sensing system. The sale was made through BT St Petersburg, which has been the Swedish company’s distributor in Russia since 2001.

“This order means a great deal to our future prospects for lift-trucks in Russia. It was won in the face of the toughest possible competition. This success obviously sends a clear signal to the market,” said Patrik Lundbäck, sales director at Konecranes Lifttrucks.