06.05.2012

Brubakken takes Malthus

Norwegian fork truck sales & rental company Brubakken has confirmed its acquisition of Malthus Lift & Maskin.

The agreement was announced on April 19th while Intermat was on, which led to us missing the announcement somehow. The formal completion date is set for the end of this month.

Malthus is based in Stavanger and operates in Norway and Sweden - following its acquisition of Liftbolaget in 2007 – as well as the Baltic States. It distributes JLG, Ommelift, Hinowa, Multitel, Versalift and Ruthmann aerial lifts.

The deal is slightly complex in that in Norway Brubakken will purchase the assets of the Malthus lift & machinery division, while in Sweden it will acquire the shares of Malthus’ Swedish company. The combined business is expected to have revenues this year of NK550 million (€72 million).

The current head of Malthus Lift & Maskin, Lars-Erik Jonsson, will continue to lead the business and will join the Brubakken management team. All Malthus staff associated with the lift business are also expected to transfer to the new operation.

Malthus is primarily a modular construction company but over the last 30 years or so has built up a significant equipment holding, both selling and renting equipment with a focus on aerial work platforms. Some time ago it formed a separate division for the equipment, with the idea that at some point it might be divested.

Brubakken imports, sells, rents and supports material handling equipment and represents Nissan Forklifts, TCM, Hubtex, Konecranes and Terberg.

A statement said: “Both Malthus Aerial work platforms and Brubakken have ambitions to become a leading supplier of equipment and services in the Nordic countries. There are significant synergies between aerial lifts and fork trucks. The technology is basically the same and there are many similarities in organisation and systems. Brubakken is to provide a significant service structure that will provide a unique market position. Meanwhile, the Malthus Aerial work platform structure in Sweden, is fertile ground for Brubakken’s Nordic ambitions. Everything that we should be even better to operate, develop and support the market and our customers.”