Two successful Yale dealers with adjoining geographic territories in the Mid-Atlantic states have joined forces.

Maple Shade-based Eastern Lift Truck Co acquired Manchester Industries Inc. Terms were not disclosed.

The deal includes Manchester facilities in York and Allentown, Pennsylvania. Eastern hired the 70 Manchester employees as of 15 December, the effective date for the change.

Now, Manchester Industries retains its identity in operating as a division of Eastern Lift Truck.

"The Manchester division will be focused on growing revenue and headcount in 2011," Mike Pruitt and John Vaccari say in announcing the transaction. Pruitt is president of Eastern Lift Truck and Vaccari is general manager of the Manchester division.

The neighbouring dealerships began discussions in October after then-Manchester president Gerald Rogers opted in a business decision to retire. Rogers joined Manchester in 1977, was named president in 2003 and operated the business in a partnership with Vaccari, who served as vice president prior to the sale.

Manchester Industries opened in 1966 and became a Yale factory store in the late 1960s. Manchester also represents the Bendi, Drexel, Manitou and JLG brands.

"Our existing staff has been retained, and we are currently adding sales people, customer service representatives, marketing staff and service technicians," says Michael Edmonds, the Manchester division's marketing manager. "We expect to grow our (division's) staff by as much as 30% this year."

While not disclosing numbers, Edmonds says that Manchester Industries "was a profitable company throughout the recession".

In addition to its Maple Shade headquarters, Eastern Lift Truck's legacy facilities include Baltimore, Hagerstown and Upper Marlboro, Maryland; Newark and Laurel, Delaware; Warminster, Pennsylvania; and Franklinville, New Jersey. The dealership also serves portions of Virginia and West Virginia. As of 15 December, Eastern Lift Truck had about 350 employees.

The late John B Pruitt established Eastern Lift Truck in 1974 and the dealership began representing the Yale brand in 1996. Pruitt family members retain ownership and operational control of the business. Mike Pruitt and Vice President Dan Pruitt are sons of the founder.

In addition to the Yale brand, Eastern Lift Truck represents Combilift, Loadlifter and Taylor-Dunn forklifts, JLG and Genie aerial work platforms and, in a recent addition, the cranes of Markaryd, Sweden-based Konecranes Lifttrucks AB-SMV.