Young An Hat Company Ltd (YAHC), which bought Clark Material Handling Company (CMHC) in the United States to bring it out of bankruptcy in January, is close to securing a similar buyout deal with the receivers of Clark Material Handling Europe (CMHE) in Mulheim, Germany.

CMHE was put into receivership when YAHC bought CMHC. CMHC chief executive Kevin Reardon said another company was also bidding for Clark MHE. He would not name it, but said it was a "large US material handling company with a big presence in Europe". He would not reveal the value of YAHC's bid.

If the YAHC bid were accepted, CMHE would continue to operate in its present form, although staff numbers would be reduced. If YAHC's bid was not successful, naming rights would be retained, and YAHC would open a distributorship in the region. Mr Reardon said that was an unlikely outcome.

"We'll be there one way or another. If we [YHAC] were to lose the bid, we'd set up a sales and marketing branch there, so European customers would still be able to access Clark products and service, regardless of the outcome," he said.

Mr Reardon told Forkliftaction.com News that, under German laws, the government had supported CMHE's payroll since the receivership.

Clark company management was removed from CMHE when the receivers took over, but the company established temporary offices in Ratigen, 10 kilometres from the Mulheim plant. The YAHC buyout agreement is expected to be finalised on April 1, the day the government's 90-day support scheme expires.

"None of the Clark MHE workers has missed a pay day," Mr Reardon said. "Under this plan, there will be no gap in their payments."

He said staff cuts were necessary, as the number of staff created a significant overhead cost and was one of CMHE's biggest problems.

"We'll try to preserve as many jobs as possible, but some jobs will be lost. We'll work with all parties to secure a satisfactory agreement for all concerned," he said.

Mr Reardon said negotiations on restructuring the debts of Clark Material Handling Asia were progressing, and once Clark Asia and CMHE deals were secured, "a new Clark" would emerge.

"Already in the USA the thinking is all about the direction of the company, not like it was 12 months ago, when the major concern was whether we could make payroll," he said.

"It's been a slow process, but hopefully we'll be back to business in the next few weeks. We've done it piece by piece, and we've done it right. We just want to get back to making forklifts and having fun."