21.05.2009

Traklift acquired

Teupen Hungaria which recently launched the Traklift brand has been acquired and its future uncertain. The company was equally owned by Teupen founder Alfons Thihatmer and a colleague and the Fekete family which in spite of owning just 33.3 percent of the shares had a controlling veto.

Teupen Hungaria was established in 1995 to build the smaller trailers and track mounted spider lifts for Teupen which it sold under the Teupen brand. Teupen Hungaria did much of the design work on the machines it built incorporating Teupen patents into those designs.

Last year after Nord Holding acquired a majority stake in Teupen, Teupen Hungaria began selling the products it made for Teupen under the Traklift brand and started to build up its own distribution network including Traklift UK and KD Lifts in the USA. This triggered a legal battle with Teupen which appeared to be going in favour of the Feketes.

The situation came to a head with the run up to Intermat in Paris as Teupen Hungaria began to advertise the Traklift brand and then exhibited its products, including a new 21 metre model.
Please register to see all images

The largest of three new Traklift machines - the TRA 21

Last week in a surprise move the Fekete family sold its 33.3 percent holding in the company to Teupen and the marketing of the Traklift products was put on hold. We now understand, although it has not been officially confirmed, that it is Alfons Thihatmer who has acquired the Fetkes shares, giving him 66.6 percent of the Hungarian company’s equity.

The future of the Hungarian built product, which is well regarded, is currently uncertain. It is likely though that the products will revert to being sold under the Teupen brand through the Teupen distributor network as in the past.

Vertikal Comment

This entire episode has been extremely complicated given the fact that for over 15 years Teupen and Teupen Hungaria worked as one and then started to go separate ways in spite of a majority shareholding in the Hungarian business by Teupen’s senior management.

The issue was complicated by the fact that the Hungarian business used many of Teupen’s 32 patents and that there were few if any written agreements on the exchange of intellectual material between what was in reality two separate companies.

Until we have an official statement from Teupen that confirms exactly what has happened it might be best if we comment no further.