Kinshofer GmbH from Germany and the UK based company Auger Torque Europe Limited has announced on February 3rd 2015 that they have signed a definite agreement to merge. Under the terms of the agreement Kinshofer has acquired 100% of the shares of Auger Torque Europe Ltd. and Auger Australia Pty Ltd.
For over 40 years, Kinshofer has been a leading manufacturer of attachments for truck mounted cranes and excavators, consistently developing its product range in both, the crane and excavator markets to become a competent partner for OEM’s and OED’s. Previous acquisitions of Demarec B.V. (Holland), Aponox OY (Finland) and RF System AB (Sweden) were other important milestones of this development.
The acquisition of Auger Torque is significant for Kinshofer in two ways: first it adds new product segments, Earth Drills, Trenchers and other Skid Steer Loader Attachments to Kinshofer’s already very comprehensive offering and secondly, it opens a very important distribution channel for Kinshofer’s attachments. This way Kinshofer will be even closer to its customers in the UK, Australia, U.S.A. and China. With this move, Kinshofer further demonstrates its commitment to being a global leader in attachments for the crane and excavator industry.
The 1998 established family business Auger Torque Ltd. put its focus on the development and marketing of tools and equipment which make carriers such as loader cranes, excavators and skid steer loaders more effective and versatile, particularly important for small and mid-size contracting businesses seeking high utilization of their machinery. With an extremely committed and well educated workforce, Auger Torque will continue to develop and sell its products worldwide. In particular the new factory in China, which opened in 2014, has increased capacity for further growth. Its strategic location, combined with regional manufacturing and technical facilities, supports customers around the globe. In order to meet the current market requirements, Auger Torque and Kinshofer will immediately recruit more staff in order to be able to ensure a swift and professional market launch of the companies’ products within either sales organization.
Thomas Friedrich, Managing Director of Kinshofer, said: “Kinshofer continues its strategy to provide the industry with a “One-Stop-Shop” solution of outstandingly engineered products to increase efficiency and, more importantly, profitability of its customers”.
Alister Rayner, founder of Auger Torque as well as Alistair Brydon, Managing Director commented: “The concentration of knowledge and competence will form a powerful centre for future developments customers can only benefit from. In particular the combination of both product ranges will create more groundbreaking innovations for the industry. We are very excited to be part of this mutual future.”
Kinshofer’s and Auger Torque’s employees are working on the rapid integration to provide customers worldwide with their comprehensive range of products and services. Kinshofer is very pleased, that Alister Rayner will remain with the company and will play a major role in the organization.
