Chinese firm Weichai has made a strategtic move in Germany with Kion

A landmark deal has been agreed between Shandong Heavy Industry Weichai Power and the German Kion Group. This is claimed to be the largest financial investment in Germany to date made by a Chinese company. Kion is a leading international producer of forklift trucks and under the terms of this deal, it will work with Weichai Power to develop a common platform for the machines for sale worldwide. The Chinese investment will also boost manufacturing capability within Europe. Weichai Power is investing €738 mil
January 18, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
A landmark deal has been agreed between Shandong Heavy Industry 2731 Weichai Power and the German 6945 KION Group. This is claimed to be the largest financial investment in Germany to date made by a Chinese company. Kion is a leading international producer of forklift trucks and under the terms of this deal, it will work with Weichai Power to develop a common platform for the machines for sale worldwide. The Chinese investment will also boost manufacturing capability within Europe. Weichai Power is investing €738 million in the deal, of which €467 million will be used to purchase a 25% stake in Kion. A further €271 million will be used by Weichai Power to purchase a 70% majority stake in the hydraulic business of Linde Material handling.

Weichai Power becomes the prime investor in Kion, following KKR and 3347 Goldman Sachs. At the same time, Weichai Power holds 70% majority holding of Linde Hydraulic, and the new company is mainly constituted by the hydraulic business stripped from Linde Material Handling. The remaining 30% shares are still held by Linde Material Handling.

Through this deal, Weichai Power becomes the global leader in forklift and high-end hydraulic sectors. At the same time, the hydraulic control system technology being acquired will make Weichai Power a leader in technology. Meanwhile Kion will benefit from Weichai Power’s strength in the Asian market as well as its supplier system in China and Europe. The hydraulic business will be operated and managed as an independent new company - Linde Hydraulic, over 1,400 employees all agreed to be transferred to the new company, and the products will still use the Linde trademark.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • VDMA optimistic for machine sales
    July 16, 2015
    The VDMA is the German equipment manufacturing association and says it is optimistic with regard to machine demand. The VDMA’s latest forecast for the construction equipment business segment in 2015 suggests market growth of 4%. According to the VDMA, the bauma 2016 construction equipment event in Munich in spring 2016 will also provide strong impetus for machine sales. German construction equipment manufacturers are more optimistic at the middle of the year than they were at the beginning – "even though u
    Read More
  • LiuGong invests hard to be seen as made, tested and supported in Europe
    January 26, 2018
    LiuGong is investing hard in Europe, determined to be seen as a global player whose products are “made in Europe, tested in Europe and supported in Europe.” Along with new European headquarters based in Warsaw, LiuGong is also opening up a new European production line and a new continent-wide parts distribution centre at its Dressta manufacturing centre in Stalowa Wola. Geoff Hadwick reports
    Read More
  • New wearparts operation for thyssenkrupp
    January 10, 2018
    By integrating its forging operations in its components business area thyssenkrupp believes it has established one of the world’s biggest companies for this industry segment. The company has linked its operations at its sites in Europe, North and South America, India and China. The new business unit thyssenkrupp Forged Technologies has around 7,000 employees at 18 production sites and a broad distribution network in over 70 countries. The business unit has sales of over €1 billion and operates over 50
    Read More
  • CECE 2018 conference Rome: the sector powers up for digitisation
    March 20, 2019
    Getting the human-machine interface for equipment automation right is a lot trickier than expected. David Arminas reports from the CECE conference in Rome For many contractors, digitisation is key for improving on-site operational efficiency. But it may be time to take stock of progress and examine what does and doesn’t work. That is not to say that the anchors should be thrown out to halt development. Far from it. In the past eight months, the CECE - Committee for European Construction Equipment – led
    Read More

Highlighted Content