26.07.2024

J2L acquires Kranlyft

Kranlyft - the European master distributor for Meada spider and mini crawler cranes - has been acquired by Swedish family investment company J2L Holding from its private equity owners Storskogen Utveckling.

J2L Holding was set up in 2009 by chief executive Johan Lindh and chairman Louise Lindh, with the goal of building an industrial group that invests in a range of companies for the long term, while helping them grow and develop. It has no centralised head office staff to interfere on a day to day basis, preferring to leave that to the management team and focus on the results and supporting them with any advice or additional funding that might be required.

After kicking off with Deutz dealer Nordic Diesel most of its investments appear to be in the healthcare equipment trading and machine tool industries, along with battery distributor Global Battery. Having sold Nordic Diesel to Deutz last year, its combined revenues are now in the region of SK1.5 billion (€130 million/$140 million) with around 350 employees.

Kranlyft chief executive Jurgen Vater said: “I am pleased that Kranlyft now is a part of the J2L Holding, with the long term perspective and stability they offer as owners. Our dedicated team looks forward to continuing to develop Kranlyft and together create value for our customers, partners and owners.”

Johan Lindh of J2L added: “Kranlyft has through its solid knowledge and long term partnerships developed the market for small to medium size cranes and lifting equipment in Europe. We are very pleased to enter as new owners and look forward, together with management and staff, to continue to grow and develop the business.“

Vertikal Comment

The deal was agreed at the end of April, but not exactly trumpeted from the roof tops. This looks like a good move for Kranlyft, J2L looks like an ideal type of investor and positive owner, assuming , of course that all the blurb and statements the company puts out is reality when you are on the inside.

Over the years Kranlyft has had many owners, this one looks like potentially one of the better ones.