KION Group

Kion Group AG
Aktiengesellschaft
Traded as FWB: KGX
Founded 2006
Headquarters Wiesbaden, Germany
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Gordon Riske (Chief Executive Officer)
Products Forklifts, warehouse equipment and industrial trucks
Revenue €4,368 million (2011)[1]
€665 million (2011)[1]
Owner Consortium of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners (75%)
Weichai Power (25%)
Number of employees
 21,862 (at 31 December 2011)[1]
Website www.kiongroup.com

Kion Group AG (styled as KION Group) is a German multinational manufacturer of materials handling equipment, with its headquarters in Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany. Its principal products are forklift trucks, warehouse equipment and industrial trucks. KION Group was founded in 2006 by the demerger of The Linde Group's materials handling equipment operations. It is the world's second-largest manufacturer of forklifts measured by revenues (after Toyota Industries).[2]

Name

"Kion" is an invented name derived from the Maasai word "Kiongozi", which means "take leadership".[3]

History

On 6 September 2006 Linde AG announced a new structure following the completion of its acquisition of The BOC Group, with the gas and engineering businesses of the combined entity operating as The Linde Group and the materials handling businesses (Linde Material Handling, STILL, and OM Carrelli Elevatori S.p.A.) operating as KION Group. Linde AG sold KION Group to a partnership of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners for approximately €4 billion.

In January 2009 KION Group formed a China-based forklift manufacturing joint venture, Kion Baoli (Jiangsu) Forklift, with Jiangsu Shangqi Group and Jingjiang Baoli Forklift.[4] In May 2010 KION Group acquired full management control of Kion Baoli.[4]

In March 2011, KION Group and the Indian engineering company Voltas agreed to form a new joint venture, Voltas Materials Handling, comprising the two companies' material handling equipment operations in India.[5][6] KION Group acquired Voltas' 34% shareholding in the venture in November 2012.[7]

In August 2012, the China-based Shandong Heavy Industry's Weichai Power subsidiary agreed to acquire a 25% stake in KION Group for €467 million, and a 70% majority stake in Kion's hydraulics business for €271 million.[8][9]

In February 2013 KION Group agreed to sell the product rights to the Linde brand's reach stacker, empty container handler and laden container handler product lines to the Finnish crane manufacturer Konecranes for an undisclosed sum.[10]

Brands

KION Group sells its products under the following brand names:

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Key Figures". KION Group. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  2. ↑ "Toyota Motor Affiliate to Buy Cascade for $759 Million". Bloomberg. 23 October 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  3. ↑ "Company Profile of the KION Group". KION Group. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Kion takes control of Chinese joint venture". Logistics Manager. 27 May 2010. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  5. ↑ "Voltas, KION of Germany to form venture". The Hindu. 20 March 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  6. ↑ "Voltas joins hands with KION to make forklift trucks". The Hindu Businessline. 21 March 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  7. ↑ "KION Group acquires the Indian truck manufacturer Voltas Material Handling Pvt. Ltd. in its entirety". Reuters. 2 November 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  8. ↑ "Shandong Heavy Invests in Germany". The Wall Street Journal. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  9. ↑ "China's Shandong Heavy Industry Group signs US$928 mil. deal to buy stake in Kion Group". The China Post. 4 September 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  10. ↑ "Konecranes buys container handling assets from KION Group". Reuters. 18 February 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2013.

External links