A cash payment of $6.6m was enough to persuade the owners of Washington Equipment Company of Illinois, USA to join the rapidly expanding fold of Columbus McKinnon (CM).
Washington Equipment manufactures and services cranes, has about 60 employees and generated sales of about $16.5m last year. It will retain its name and continue to be run by the current management.
The purchase was motivated by CM’s so-called CraneMart strategy, through which a network of crane builders is being established, either by strategic alliances or full takeover. Previous acquisitions were detailed in issue 5 of HOIST.
CM president and chief executive officer Timothy Tevens said that the purchase of Washington Equipment “further advances our CraneMart strategy announced on 1 March with the merger of GL International with CM. In Washington Equipment, CM gains both additional engineering capabilities and a presence in four important markets: central Illinois and eastern Iowa, significant heavy manufacturing areas, and the major markets around St Louis, Missouri and Jacksonville, Florida.”
