11.08.2025

Another owner for Hyva

Hyva the loader crane manufacturer has been sold on by Jost just six months after it completed its acquisition. The new owner will be German based Private Equity firm Mutares.

Mutares was set up in 2008 by Axel Geuer and Robin Laik in Munich, Guer left the business in 2018 while Laik is now chief executive and single largest shareholder. The company also has offices in London, Paris, Milan, Amsterdam, Chicago, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Madrid, Mumbai, Shanghai, Stockholm, Vienna and Warsaw, with the revenues of the 31 companies it has acquired said to be in the region of €5 billion. It is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Mutares says that the transaction will strengthen its ‘Goods & Services segment’ as a new platform investment and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025, subject to merger control approvals.

The Hyva assets being acquired by Mutares are the crane manufacturing companies, which have annualised revenues in the region of €100 million, with around 400 employee across production plants in Italy, Brazil and China and a network of sales and distribution offices.

The Hyva business that Jost acquired was said to have revenues in the region of €600 million, which include cylinders and hydraulics for tippers, as well as hook loaders, and other commercial vehicle hydraulics, in addition to the loader crane operations under the Hyva, Amco Veba, Ferrari and Kennis brands, but may well have been over estimated.

Mutares chief information officer Johannes Laumann said: "The crane business unit of Hyva is a very promising new platform for our Goods & Services segment with a globally recognised brand in truck mounted cranes. The business presents a turnaround and carve out opportunity due to recent financial underperformance and operational inefficiencies. With our proven expertise in carve outs and restructuring, we aim to restore profitability and drive sustainable growth. With a hands on approach and long-term investment strategy, we see the company as a valuable addition to the Mutares portfolio.”

Jost chief executive Joachim Dürr added: “I am very pleased with the progress of the post merger integration between Hyva and Jost. The swift execution of the cranes divestment will allow us to focus even more on new growth opportunities for our core business and raising the identified synergies to achieve our Ambition 2030 targets for profitable growth.”

See: 2020 Cranes & Access interview with Hyva

Vertikal Comment

It seems that Jost acquired the Hyva business with a clear eye on the bits it wanted, and that did not include all of the crane operations. It therefore listed these operations as ’Discontinued operations’ and put them up for sale, while integrating the parts it wanted, which we believe, included some of Hyva’s strong operations in Asia Pacific. It is interesting to note that the Jost/Hyva stand at the Matexpo exhibition in Belgium will include HMF cranes, possibly along with a single Hyva unit.

It will also be interesting to see how the Hyva crane business performs now that it will be a standalone operation. It is starting from a low point in comparison to the leading lader crane producers, but with an increased focus and decent funding, opportunities do exist, including the acquisition of other loader crane producers.