Lift Systems will drop rival brands and focus solely on Yale and Hyster equipment

Gregory Poole Lift Systems expects to double its annual revenue with three dealership acquisitions in the Hyster and Yale shake-up reported last week (Forkliftaction.com News #723).

Parent company Gregory Poole Equipment Company announced its purchase of Dougherty Equipment Company, VBS Materials Handling Equipment and part of Briggs Equipment.

Under the deal, Lift Systems will drop rival brands Caterpillar, Mitsubishi, Crown and Kalmar when the deals close, and focus solely on Yale and Hyster equipment.

According to a report in the News & Observer, Hal Ingram, vice president of Lift Systems, sees the deal as an "opportunity to double our business, essentially in the same territory we have".

Lift Systems has 10 locations in eastern North Carolina, eastern South Carolina and Virginia. That includes five sites it shares with Gregory Poole Equipment, which sells Caterpillar construction equipment.

Under the deal announced last week, Lift Systems will gain 16 locations, but will consolidate dealerships that are located near each other, including current Lift Systems locations, according to the report. As a result, the company will add three new locations - in Rocky Mount and in the Virginia cities of Harrisonburg and Winchester.

Ingram notes that the move also "partners us with a North Carolina-based manufacturer".

Yale and Hyster equipment is manufactured at a NACCO Materials Handling Group plant in Greenville, N.C.

Privately owned Gregory Poole Equipment has 17 locations in four states. In addition to construction equipment and materials handling equipment, it also has dealerships that sell tree harvesting and lumber equipment and boat engines.