Yale Victoria was sold to Hystandard Handling Equipment this week.

Yale Victoria, one of the last two remaining Nacco Material Handling Group wholly owned retail dealerships in Australia, has been sold to Hystandard Handling Equipment.

Former Hyster dealer John Flinn of Sydney-based Hystandard, which became a Yale dealership in December 2009, tells Forkliftaction.com News that the company signed the deal with NMHG this week and will take full control with immediate effect.

"When we took on the Yale dealership last year, we said ... that we would be seeking further opportunities to expand and when this came up, we took the strategic decision to take over and grow our business," says Flinn.

Since NMHG sold off its Australian Hyster operations in April last year to Adapt-A-Lift (Forkliftaction.com News #417), it has been an open secret in the industry that it would seek to do the same with its Yale dealerships.

Notoriously tight-lipped, NMHG makes no comments on its plans, either before or after execution.

Flinn tells Forkliftaction.com News that he will be offering employment to all staff at the Victoria operation, and that business there will continue as usual, under the leadership of long-time general manager Keith Sanders.

Nor is Flinn sitting back, despite his acquisition of what he termed "a fairly significant business".

"I'll still be seeking opportunities in the marketplace," he warns.

Just how long Yale Queensland will remain within the NMHG fold is unknown. Rumours surfaced in February this year (Forkliftaction.com News #449) that a sale of the dealership was imminent,with Budget Forklifts mooted as a possible buyer.

Queensland remains the last remaining NMHG-owned dealership with today's news that the Victoria operation now belongs to Hystandard.