Forklift News - BRAMBLES SILENT ON RENTAL DIVISION SALE

SYDNEY, Australia -- Brambles Industries Ltd is tight-lipped on a rumoured imminent sale of its forklift division.

forkliftaction.com has received no response to requests for information from Brambles' chief executive, marketing manager or other executives.

Many Australian forklift industry participants, from manufacturers to distributors, believe Portland, Oregon, USA-based NACCO Materials Handling Group's Asia-Pacific arm is a lead contender, should a sale go ahead.

But NMHG Asia-Pacific Pty Ltd spokesman Andrew Dickson said the company was not in any official negotiations, and the acquisition of a Brambles division in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, did not mean the company would buy the Brambles forklift rental division in Australia.

The Sydney Morning Herald has reported Brambles chief executive John Fletcher saying the company was negotiating the sale of its forklift rental operations in Australia and Europe, and that analysts believed the entire equipment rental division may be sold.

Brambles' share price dipped by more than 8% on the Australian Stock Exchange after Mr Fletcher announced his resignation late last month.

Mr Fletcher told the Herald that a sale of the forklift division was part of
the company's bid to boost profits through restructuring.

However, any sale would require the approval of the Australian Government's regulatory body, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, because of the potential market monopoly it could create.

Deutsche Bank will neither confirm nor deny whether it has tendered the sale.

NMHG Asia-Pacific is the second-largest fleet rental company in Australia behind Brambles. The group markets Hyster and Yale forklift trucks, and has a combined fleet, from less than one-tonne to 48-tonne trucks, of more than 3000 machines throughout Australia's warehouses and wharves.

Brambles' forklift rental fleet pool is the largest in Australia, with an estimated 5000 units. Backed by an extensive network of mobile workshops around Australia, the company offers rental and service options on long and short-term contracts.

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