24.04.2019

Terex sells US crane assets

Terex has sold the assets and parts business of its boom truck, truck crane and Crossover crane product lines to the Load King subsidiary of Custom Truck One Source, part of the Utility One group funded by private equity firm Blackstone.

Kansas City-based Custom Truck sells, mounts, rents and supports a wide range of truck mounted equipment including boom trucks, aerial work platforms, loader cranes and more specialised bodies and equipment. It represents Elliot, Versalift, Terex, National Crane, IMT and Gehl.

Founded by the Ross family in 1996 the company has grown rapidly in recent years with the support and funding of Blackstone. This has included the acquisition of trailer manufacturer Load King from Manitex at the end of 2015. See Manitex sells Lift King and Californian based crane and utility equipment distributor Great Pacific Equipment around six months ago.
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Custom Truck One Source headquarters facility in Kansas City

Fred Ross chief executive of Custom Truck One Source said: “I am delighted to announce this acquisition and its launch of boom truck, crossover and truck crane product lines under Load King’s brand. This is an important acquisition that expands our broad specialised truck and heavy equipment solutions offering.”

Terex chief executive John Garrison added: “This transaction completes one of the portfolio actions we announced in February. We continue to implement our Focus, Simplify and Execute to Win strategy. By focusing on businesses where we have a strong market position, we can efficiently concentrate our improvement efforts to maximize value for our customers, team members and shareholders. We will work closely with Custom Truck One Source to ensure a smooth transition and will continue to sell parts to our boom truck, truck crane and crossover customers during an expected one-year transition period.”

“After completion of this transaction with Load King and the sale of Demag mobile cranes to Tadano, Terex will remain in the Rough Terrain and tower crane businesses. We will fulfil global demand for Rough Terrain cranes from our Crespellano, Italy facility and for tower cranes from our Fontanafredda, Italy facility. Customers can be assured that we will continue to sell parts and provide support to Rough Terrain, tower crane, and other legacy crane products. We are investing in parts inventory and improving our operations to better serve these important customers.”
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Vertikal Comment

When Terex announced that it was shutting down its North American crane operations - having sold Demag to Tadano - it made no sense, as several potential buyers would have been interested in purchasing it. Now all becomes clear in a deal that appears to be an excellent fit with Custom Truck One Source’s aspirations and given Blackstone’s support and other interests. Terex ought to have extracted a decent price for the business while solving a potential unpleasantness with fleet owners/past customers from simply closing everything down.

This looks like a good move for both parties and could be a stepping stone towards making Custom Truck a significant player in the North American crane business.