 New Elgin superstore. |
Two newly merged forklift dealerships adopted a new identity, Equipment Depot of Illinois, in mid-November and appointed Larry O'Neill as president and CEO.
The combined Elgin, Illinois-based business has roots going back to 1951.
Material Handling Services Inc (MHS) and Illinois Material Handling (IMH) merged on July 17 and now operate six stores covering 54 counties in Illinois and northwestern Indiana.
A major driver for the deal was IMH's representation of Caterpillar forklifts. As part of the merger, MHS parent firm Pon North America exchanged dealerships, purchasing IMH from Wisconsin Lift Truck Corp, of Brookfield, Wisconsin, and selling its Wisconsin operations to Wisconsin Lift (
Forkliftaction.com News #271). Now, the state line separating Illinois and Wisconsin sets marketing limits for Equipment Depot of Illinois (EDI) and Wisconsin Lift Truck.
 Larry O'Neill |
O'Neill joined EDI in early October. Previously, he was general manager of product support with Patten Industries Inc, a major Caterpillar dealership in Elmhurst, Illinois.
EDI said it had 325 employees, including 180 service technicians, operated more than 120 service vans and had projected annual sales of about USD75 million.
The firm distributes Caterpillar, Mitsubishi, Linde and Nissan forklifts, SkyTrak, JLG and Genie aerial work platforms and telehandlers, Princeton truck-mounted forklifts and RailKing railcar movers. Its rental fleet includes more than 700 forklifts and 120 pieces of aerial and specialty equipment.
A state-of-the-art superstore was opened in Elgin, consolidating former MHS stores in Carol Stream and Des Plaines. MHS had its corporate office in West Chicago. Jasper Van den Driest, marketing manager, said EDI may open a new satellite service facility in Du Page County.
Operations in Illinois continue at stores in Grayslake, south Rockford, Morton and Alsip, all formerly MHS sites, and a north Rockford location, formerly an IMH facility.
EDI reports to Pon North America, a division within the equipment & power systems group of privately held Pon Holdings BV, of Nijkerk, the Netherlands. Before the merger, Pon owned MHS.
Cincinnati, Ohio-based Pon North America employs more than 1,500 people at 35 forklift sales and service locations in eight states.
Other Pon North America units are Equipment Depot of Texas, of Waco, Texas; Portman Equipment Co, of Cincinnati; and LeveeLift Inc, of Evansville, Indiana.
O'Neill succeeded Ed Fritz, who moved to Equipment Depot of Texas as executive vice president with responsibility for the Dallas-Fort Worth market. Fritz had been CEO of MHS.