WORL
D NEWS
6
access
INTERNATIONAL
JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2015
■
HSS Hire Group
, based in the
UK, has announced it will proceed
with an IPO (initial public offering).
The company intends to raise
UK£103million from its listing on
the LondonStock Exchange, which
will provide greater working capital
to drive growth in the business.
The issue of new shareswill allow
shareholders to sell their investment
in the company, although existing
shareholders are expected to
remain the group’s largest following
completion of the IPO. Admission to
the stock exchange is set to take
place in February 2015. Following
that the companywill be eligible for
inclusion in the FTSE UK indices.
■
Genie
is introducing two
secondary guarding solutions
to Australia: theGenieOperator
Protective Structure (OPS), a
mechanical system, and theGenie
Operator Protective Alarm (OPA), an
electrical system. TheGenieOPS is
an optional device for installation on
articulating or telescopic boom lifts
and provides secondary protection
for operators in the event of contact
with an overhead obstacle. “We are
aware of incidentswhere operators
made contact with overhead
obstacleswhile operating aerials,”
saidBrad Lawrence, general
manager, Terex AWP.
■
Italianmanufacturer
Socage
has delivered its second forSte 10A
aerial work platform to its dealer in
Ecuador, after shipping the first one
in early 2014. Socage designed the
forSte 10Awith the LatinAmerican
market inmind and hopes it will see
much success in themarket with
the newmodel. The 10A is easy
to use. Mounted on a 3.5 tonne
pick-up truck, the AWP can be used
without outriggers.
■
Haulotte UK
has appointed
WHall as itsNorthern Ireland
distributor.WHall, based in
Newtownabbey, hasmore than 60
years’ experience in thematerial
handling business and says it
will offer Haulotte’s established
customer base in the country a
faster andmore responsive sales
and after sales experience.With
dedicatedHaulotte engineering
support and an established trading
base offeringworkshop, sales, field
support and transport,WHall will
support the full Haulotte range.
INBRIEF
Sk
yj
ack
to unveil
boom in theUS
Skyjackwill launch the SJ86T
telescopic boom atTheRental
Show, takingplace inNew
Orleans,USA,duringFebruary.
“The SJ86T is the latest in a
line of boomproducts Skyjackhas
brought tomarket in recent years,”
saidMalcolmEarly,Skyjack’s vice
president ofmarketing.“While
it is far from the last boom lift
wewill introduce, it represents
amilestone as amuch asked for
additionby our customers.”
The newSJ86Thelpsmeet
increasing customer demand in
the rental industrywith its higher
capacity and greater reach.Two
modelswill be available inNorth
America: a telescopic-onlymodel
with a platformheight of 82 ft
and amodel with a jib, featuring
a platformheight of 86 ft.Full
details on the SJ86Twill be
released atTheRental Show.The
model will thenbe launched in
Europe at Intermat inApril.
In addition to the new
telescopic boom,Skyjackwill
be showcasing the SJ63AJ
Safety at height specialist
X
SP
latformswill open four
new offices in the first half
of 2015
. The ex
pansion is a
result of increased demand
for the company’
s products
inAsia, theMiddle East and
Australia, it said.
InAsia therewill be new
offices in the company’
s two
largestmark
ets India and
China. An officewill also be
opened in K
uwait, in addition to
X
SP
latforms’
ex
isting offices in
Dubai and Q
atar.
An additional newAustralian
officewill be X
SP
latforms’
first in that continent. The
ex
pansion from10 to14
officesworldwide refl
ects
X
SP
latforms’
continued
growth, saidGeert Cox
, the
company’
sCEO. “
More-
and-
more freq
uently,we are
req
uested by contractors,
consultants, architects and
proj
ect developersworldwide
to deliver our safety solutions
for their proj
ects.With our
new officeswewill be able to
meet this growing demand and
give an even better andmore
localised service to clients in
these areas.”
GermanAssociation PartnerLIFT finished its 2014 financial year withmember
orders of
€
6.5m for access platforms through a specially-arranged ‘purchase
day’.
The board of the rental association and its headquarters organised the
purchase daywhich took place on 12December at exhibition centre The
Squaire, near Frankfurt airport.
Days before PartnerLIFTmembers had the opportunity to order themachines
and then negotiate the final price during the purchase day. More than 170
machineswere bought, totaling around
€
6.5m; a figure that increased leading
up toChristmas.
Equipment sold on the day came from a range ofmanufacturers, including,
Haulotte, JLG, Niftylift, Skyjack, Dinolift, Palfinger, Ruthmann andCTE.
More purchase activities are planned for 2015.
P
ARTNERL
I FT AIDS
€
6
.5
MORDER
articulatingboom at theRental
Show,which features anopen-
centre knuckle riser design for
improved visibility, alongwith its
full line of products.
Manitex
completes
Oil &
Steel acq
uisition
US-basedManitex International
has completed the purchase of
Italy-basedPMGroup forUS$91
million.
PMmanufactures knuckle
boom cranes and aerial work
platforms under theOil&Steel
brand.
The price reflects exchange
rate changes from the previously
announced $107millionpurchase
agreement, and consists of $21
million in cash, assumeddebt
of $60million, and onemillion
shares inManitex.
DavidLangevin, chairman and
CEO ofManitex International
said, “WewelcomePMGroup
to theManitex family, and look
forward to providing our dealers
another exceptional product line
to offer to their customers.”
PM,based inModena, Italy,
had a 2014 revenue of $100
millionwithEBITDAmargins
consistent with those ofManitex
International, said the company.
See the interviewwithPM
andOil&Steel president Luigi
Fucilli onpage 12.
