08.02.2023

Bay Crane expands in Chicago

The Gatwood Crane subsidiary of New York-based Bay Crane has acquired 43 cranes ranging from 20 to 300 tonnes along with related support equipment from Chellino Crane, a wholly owned subsidiary of ML Crane Group. Gatwood will also take over the spacious Chellino facility in Joliet on the south west edge of the greater Chicago region.

Both Chellino and Gatwood have been acquired within the past five years by the two group’s involved in this deal. Bay Crane acquired Gatwood last January while the M-L Crane group acquired Chellino crane in October 2017. This move follows ML Crane's restructuring agreement with asset and advisory firm NCI - Nations Capital Inc - in December.
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The Chellino yard in Joliet

Bay Crane chief executive Kenneth Bernardo said: “This investment represents a significant expansion of our Gatwood Crane fleet located in the Chicago-land area and is indicative of the strong commitment we have to support our existing customers and expanding the customers we serve. M-L Group was looking to focus their business in the Midwestern United States on its strong base of wind and other alternative energy customers and projects. As a result, they had excess fleet that was used primarily to service these industrial customers. The industrial customer base is a core component of our Midwestern growth strategy, so the transaction was a good fit for us both.”

M-L president Caroline Asimakopoulos added: “We are committed to serving our alternative energy customers throughout the Midwest. This transaction allows us to focus on continuing to build ML Crane Group into the premier crane service provider in this segment of the market. The transaction will enable our company to better serve our alternative energy customers, increasing our investment in equipment and people to provide a broader product offering to these customers.”