Linde disposes of forklift business

A Linde statement said the consortium would honour all agreements on safeguarding locations made by the Linde executive board and employee representatives in the northern hemisphere summer of 2005.

KKR head of European operations Johannes Huth and Goldman Sachs head of central and eastern Europe, Alexander Dibelius, said in a joint statement that Linde’s Kion Group – its new holding company for its three forklift brands, Linde, Still and OM – had excellent prospects, and praised the group’s employees.

Kion management board chairman Hubertus Krossa said he was delighted the group had found “strong partners” that supported Kion’s industrial concept. Dow Jones International News reported that KKR-Goldman’s winning bid was “slightly ahead” of other bidders, Permira-Allianz Capital, CVC Capital, and BC Partners and Apax Partners. According to forkliftaction.com, the Linde Group had been trying to sell its forklift unit since buying BOC Group plc.