Konecranes acquired 100% of the Saudi Arabian crane manufacturer Saudi Cranes & Steel Works Factory Company Limited.

Saudi Cranes is headquartered in Al Jubail Industrial City and the company has approximately 100 employees. Saudi Cranes' core business is designing, manufacturing and selling industrial cranes. The company previously had a license agreement with Konecranes. Saudi Cranes net sales in 2010 were approximately 17 MEUR. The value of the acquisition is not disclosed.

Saudi Cranes enjoys an excellent reputation in Saudi Arabia. Its customers are mainly in the oil, gas & petrochemical industries, steel plants, railways, workshops, power plants and other process industries in the whole of the Arabian Peninsula.

As a result of strong growth in recent years, Saudi Cranes' manufacturing plant was expanded at the end of 2008 in accordance with specifications from Konecranes and is now well equipped to serve Saudi Cranes' customers.

Mr Pierre Boyer senior VP of Konecranes said that “The acquisition of Saudi Cranes will give Konecranes the opportunity to strengthen its position in the important Saudi Arabian market which is witnessing significant growth in major industries. Thousands of overhead cranes have been sold in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to date. These form an excellent base for establishing and developing services to the Saudi Arabian market.”

(Sourced from www.euroinvestor.co.uk)