A Kalmar forklift

Cargotec's recent acquisition of two Italian service companies will allow it to focus on developing its services in Italy.

Cargotec's Kalmar business unit has acquired 80% of CVS Technoports and CVS Service. The remaining 20% of the two companies' shares will remain in the ownership of the CVS Ferrari Group.

Mark Williamson, president of Kalmar EMEA, explains Kalmar was not able to buy 100% of the two companies because of rules set out by the Monopoly Commission.

Kalmar originally agreed to purchase CVS Ferrari in January 2007 (Forkliftaction.com News #293), however the acquisition was put on hold after German competition authorities raised concerns (Forkliftaction.com News #320).

The companies will work under the name Officine Cargotec Ferrari and will focus on developing services to container and materials handling customers in Italy. The acquisition will enable the companies to offer a wide range of services related to CVS and Kalmar equipment.

Williamson says the main reason for buying the two businesses was that Kalmar did not have a service organisation in Italy. "If the market was big enough and there was enough equipment in the market place, we could have had our own service organisation," he says. "However, the best way to go forward was to buy one (existing service business) rather than start a new one."

Italy has been in Kalmar's sights for some time as part of its overall strategic plan, he notes. "There are some big customers in Italy and we sell quite a bit of equipment in (the) country. It is also a decent size market with some important ports."