Manitou BF has halved its shareholding in its Toyota Industries Corp (TICO) joint venture company, Toyota Industrial Equipment (TIE) SA.

The move to cut shareholding in TIE from 40% to 20% coincides with the end of Manitou CEO Marcel Braud's term as chairman of TIE's board of directors. Braud has been board of directors chairman since TIE's establishment in 1995.

TIE chief executive Mr Kimura will replace Braud, a Manitou statement said. Braud will continue representing Manitou on the board of directors.

TIE, headquartered at Ancenis, France, manufactures and assembles industrial forklifts under the Toyota brand.

Separately, Manitou and TICO are also renewing a subcontracting agreement where Manitou manufactures masts for TIE forklifts.

The statement says a new range of Toyota forklifts fitted with Manitou-manufactured masts will be introduced this month.

Manitou is also investing EUR9 million (USD12.3 million) in a new manufacturing unit capable of producing 20,000 masts annually. The unit is expected to be opened in 2008.

The rough-terrain specialist announced a sales growth of 14.8% from EUR584.4 million (USD799.6 million) to EUR 670.7 million (USD917.7 million) for the six months ended June 30.

Forkliftaction.com News contacted Manitou BF for further details on its joint venture company with TICO but was told by a staff member that the senior management and PR team were on holidays until August 20.