Taiwan's Tiger Group has bought a 20% stake in Bolzoni Holding Hong Kong for EUR2 million (USD2.7 million).

Bolzoni Holding Hong Kong, part of the Italian multinational group and forklift attachment maker Bolzoni SpA, currently controls 60% of Bolzoni Huaxin Co Ltd and 20% of Huaxin Forks Co Ltd.

The company controls 100% of Bolzoni Wuxi, which will produce forklift attachments for the Asian market and some components for Bolxoni SpA's plants, by mid-2012.

Bolzoni SpA CEO Roberto Scotti describes the transaction as "an acquisition that acknowledges and rewards the strategy and investments made up to now in China by the Bolzoni Group".

"The Tiger Group has recognised that the steps taken by Bolzoni in China have, in little less than a year, provided the Italian multinational group with an extremely competitive production and distribution platform," Scotti says. "The alliance with Tiger, a group active in China in logistics and electronics, represents added value, thanks to its distribution network and knowledge of the market."

Bolzoni and Tiger have a relationship dating back more than 10 years, first as business associations, then as joint venture partners in China. China is the world's biggest market for forks, with volumes higher than the European and US markets combined and a value of about EUR30 million (USD40 million) in 2010.