A CareLift ZB8044 telehandler

Skyjack Inc has signed an agreement to buy telehandler manufacturer CareLift Equipment Ltd of Breslau, Ontario.

Linda Hasenfratz, the CEO of parent company Linamar Corp, says CareLift expands Skyjack's product offering and opens up a large market for the Guelph, Ontario-based company. Skyjack Inc manufactures a line of self-propelled scissor lifts with elevated work heights up to 56 feet (17.1 metres).

"The global telehandler market is worth USD3 billion and growing," Hasenfratz says.

"CareLift's popular ZoomBoom brand is well positioned to increase market share by using Skyjack's well established distribution network."

CareLift, established in 1962, has a factory in Breslau, about 72km west of Toronto, Ontario, that employs 65 people. CareLift claims on its website its telehandlers are "heavier built than the competition" and meet the needs of the North American construction market.

CareLift's rough-terrain telehandlers have lift heights ranging from 32 feet to 56 feet (9.8 metres to 17.1 metres) and payload capacities from 6,000lbs to 32,000lbs (2721.6kg to 14,515.0kg).

David Bristow, CareLift's vice president for sales & marketing, says the company will produce about 250 telehandlers in 2007 that will be sold through rental and retail distribution channels in North America. Sales revenue for 2007 is estimated to be about CAD25 million (USD23.5 million).

He adds that Linamar plans to significantly increase production of CareLift telehandlers over the next two years.

The transaction is subject to further due diligence.

Linamar Corp's divisions manufacture components for engines, transmission and driveline system and offers product development service and expertise as well as transportation services. It employs 11,000 people in 36 manufacturing locations, five R &D centres and nine sales offices in Canada, US, Mexico, Germany, Hungary, China and Korea. In 2006, Linamar's generated almost USD2.3 billion in sales.