04.09.2013

Broderson family sells

US-based pick & carry crane manufacturer Broderson has been acquired by the Lanco group. No financial details of the transaction have been disclosed.

Based in Lenexa, Kansas, Broderson was founded by Dean Broderson in 1973 and has continued to be led by his family since his untimely death in 1983. The company currently manufactures an eight model range of industrial pick & carry cranes with capacities from 2.5 tons/2.27 tonnes to 15 tons /13.6 tonnes.
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Lanco has companies in manufacturing, distribution, entertainment, transportation and technology including its flagship company, Mi-Jack,manufactures rubber tyred gantry cranes. It also owns Western Pacific Cranes & Equipment the Manitowoc, Grove and National Cranes distributor on the West coast USA, Western Canada and Hawaii as well as Walter Payton Power Equipment - a Manitowoc distributor in the Midwest for the last seven years.

Mike Lanigan of Lanco said: “We are very excited to add Broderson to our family of companies and look forward to building on the efforts that the previous ownership incorporated in making them one of the leading carry deck crane manufacturers in North America.”

“This new acquisition fits very well with the goals and reputation that we want to be associated with. Broderson has a great network of dealers and customers who have been very happy and pleased with the reliability and quality of Broderson products over the years. That's what we were most impressed with this company and we want to follow that tradition completely”.

Vertikal Comment

Rumours regarding the sale of Broderson have been circulating almost since the 2008 recession began to hit the crane business. The business was founded by Dean Broderson after he acquired the rights to the crane line of his employer RO Products in 1972 and has been led by the family ever since.

They have been quoted as saying that if the business became a loss making enterprise they would exit. But when it came down to it they held on and this is probably as good a time to sell up as any.

The acquisition by Lanco is interesting in that the group is a significant distributor for the Grove and Shuttlelift carry-deck cranes, so one wonders if this will all switch to Broderson now?

In addition to the Broderson carry-deck models Lanco gains Broderson’s range of cab-down Rough Terrain cranes, a market Grove pulled out of many years ago, but for which there is still limited demand, especially in the oil and gas business. The Badger division of Manitex has been seeking to satisfy and expand into this market - and Lanco is also a Manitex boom truck distributor through Walter Peyton.

Interesting.