01.08.2017

Brazilian acquisition for Hiab

Hiab is to acquire the Brazilian loader crane manufacturer Argos Guindastes Indústria e Comércio.

Argos was established from scratch on a ‘greenfield site’ in 2002 and is privately held, it operates from a single manufacturing facility in Santo Antonio da Patrulha, and has built up an extensive distribution network across Brazil and South America.
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The Argos manufacturing plant in Santo Antonio da Patrulha, Brazil

Total revenues last year were just under €10 million. No details of the transaction have been revealed, but Hiab will take on around 60 Argos employees as art of the deal.The acquisition is expected to complete in the next three months.
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The Argos loader crane line

Hiab president Roland Sundén said: "Brazil is one of the world's largest markets for loader cranes. A presence in Brazil is important in order to become the leading player in the global load handling industry. The acquisition of Argos is another concrete step in line with our strategy to grow and become the number one player in load handling worldwide,"

Joakim Andersson senior vice president Hiab Cranes added: “Historically, Argos is one of the largest players and providers of industry leading equipment in the Brazilian crane market. This along the complementary product portfolio of Argos and Hiab, a large installed base, strong distribution network, as well as the well-known Argos brand will provide us great business opportunities in the future".

Vertikal Comment

This looks like a good move on Hiab’s part, most importantly in terms of timing. Others piled in to the overinflating Brazilian market as the global slow down began to bite and subsequently burnt their fingers as the market bubble collapsed and the real underlying economy caught up. Whether that time is now, it is hard to say, but with the global economy on the up, and the price paid probably relatively modest, it looks like a very good bet that it is.

Hiab really is building momentum towards its quest to be worl leader again.