Hyster-Yale to purchase majority stake in Italian attachment manufacturer Bolzoni S.p.A.

Hyster-Yale Materials Handling has announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase a majority of shares of Bolzoni S.p.A., a manufacturer of lift truck attachments.

Hyster-Yale will purchase 100% of outstanding shares from Penta Holding S.p.A., holder of approximately 50.4% of Bolzoni shares, for an aggregate purchase price of $59,810,218.

Following completion of the mandatory tender offer for Bolzoni S.p.A, the proposed transaction is expected to add a wider spectrum of products to a leading global materials handling business and provide an important platform for additional growth. For the twelve months ended September 30, 2015, Bolzoni S.p.A. had consolidated revenues of $150 million.

Based in Piacenza, Italy, Bolzoni S.p.A. is a leading worldwide producer of attachments for forklift trucks under the Bolzoni Auramo and Meyer brand names. Under the terms of the transaction, following the closing, Bolzoni S.p.A. will become a subsidiary of Hyster-Yale, but is expected to continue to operate as a stand-alone business, with its own management team and Board of Directors. Roberto Scotti, Bolzoni’s current chief executive officer, is expected to continue to lead Bolzoni S.p.A. following the completion of the transaction. Scotti has more than 30 years of experience in the European forklift attachments industry.

“Bolzoni and Hyster-Yale have had a strong relationship over many years,” Scotti said. “This acquisition provides exciting opportunities for Bolzoni to expand its global reach while increasing its depth of penetration in certain markets. We also see tremendous opportunities to utilize our manufacturing capacity by insourcing components that Hyster-Yale currently purchases. Today, Bolzoni provides attachments and components to forklift OEMs, their sales network and customers and ensures the integrity of information is maintained at all times. This core operating principle will not change as a result of this acquisition.”

Emilio Bolzoni, Chairman of Penta and Bolzoni S.p.A. said, “I am proud of the growth of Bolzoni over the past 70 years, thanks to the great professionalism of the people that contributed to it and of our great dedication to our customers. This transaction starts a new chapter in our history and I am delighted that we will continue to be run as a separate company as part of Hyster-Yale Group. In the course of our discussions it has been very interesting finding out the several similarities there are between Bolzoni and Hyster-Yale. The products, the history, the knowledge developed in Bolzoni are different but at the same time complementary to those of Hyster-Yale so much so as to make an interesting creation of value possible. These are the premises which are expected to lead to a successful combination.”

Colin Wilson, president and chief executive officer of Hyster-Yale Group, said, “Bolzoni is well-known as a reliable world-class supplier of attachments and has become the preferred supplier for Hyster and Yale products. We look forward to better meeting our customers’ needs by broadening our product offerings as a result of this transaction. We remain committed to serving all of Bolzoni S.p.A.‘s customers.”

Wilson continued, “Bolzoni has been investing in capacity expansion, and we see an opportunity to leverage this by absorbing Bolzoni’s unused capacity. Bolzoni’s historical strength is in Europe, which has growth opportunities, but Bolzoni has also been expanding in the Americas and has a presence in China, where we want to expand. We also envision using our global independent dealer network and strong relationships with customers with whom we sell directly to expand the sales of Hyster and Yale products fitted with Bolzoni’s excellent range of specialized attachments.”