Konecranes has bought Austrian forklift service company Zeiss Staplerservice GmbH for an undisclosed sum.

Sommerein-headquartered Zeiss specialises in forklift maintenance services, and forklift sales and rental. In 2010, the company's net sales were over EUR3 million (USD4.158 million).

Konecranes says the acquisition enables the Finnish company to offer its own forklift sales and maintenance services in Austria. Zeiss has a wide customer base in Austria and is experienced in selling and servicing forklifts from 1.5 ton to the highest capacity Konecranes forklifts.

Kari Åkman, vice president, service for the Nordic, East Europe and India region, says Zeiss complements Konecranes' present offering in the area. "By combining local forklift knowledge with our present resources and products, we are convinced that we will be a very valuable partner for our customers."

Zeiss Staplerservice has 23 employees. It will serve as a competence, maintenance and business support centre for Konecranes forklift activities and for the surrounding Central East European countries.

Konecranes spokesman Mikael Wegmüller says all Zeiss employees will continue in their present roles and later, the operations will be merged with Konecranes'.

The acquisition is the third for Konecranes this year. In January, the Finnish company announced it had bought its former licensee in Santiago, Chile, Gruas Koman Limitada, to serve as a base for growing its service, parts and equipment business in South America (Forkliftaction.com News #497).

In February, Konecranes signed an agreement to buy Indian crane company WMI Cranes Ltd to boost its position in the Indian crane market (Forkliftaction.com News #502).

Hyvinkää- headquartered Konecranes provides lifting solutions for manufacturing and process industries, shipyards, ports and terminals. In 2010, group sales totaled EUR1.546 billion (USD2.143 billion). The group has 10,000 employees at 578 locations in 46 countries.