Kalmar has bought Spanish crane refurbishment and maintenance service company Mareiport SA.

The acquisition is part of Kalmar's strategy to become a major global crane refurbishment and services provider. Kalmar has been a minority shareholder since 2007with 30% ownership.

Mareiport, a privately owned company, was established in 1985 in Algeciras, Spain. It provides maintenance services for ports and terminals, and refurbishment and heightening services for cranes, including quay cranes, rubber-tyred-gantry cranes, bulk cranes and large shipyard cranes. In 2012, Mareiport's sales totalled about EUR20 million (USD26 million). It employs about 250 people.

"There are about 5,000 units of quay cranes in operation globally," Kalmar president Olli Isotalo says. "A majority of them have been in operation [more than] 10 years and need refurbishments and upgrades.

"At the same time, our customers are looking for modifications and upgrades to existing quay cranes to handle ever-larger vessels."

Isotalo says Kalmar plans to expand its crane services and refurbishment capabilities in southern and central Europe, the Middle East and Africa, south east Asia and the USA's east coast.

The acquisition price is confidential.

Kalmar is part of Helsinki, Finland-headquartered Cargotec. Cargotec's sales totalled EUR3.3 billion (USD4.3 billion) in 2012 and it employs about 10,000 people.