Denka and Falck Schmidt merge to create Worldlift

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed and the deal does not include Falck Schmidt's defence business, which will remain in the Falck Schmidt family.

Production will continue at the two facilities, with trailers and light truck mounted units being made at Denka's Holbaek factory and the Falck Schmidt line of Falcon Spider and heavier duty truck and van mounts for the power utility sectors being produced in Odense.

Niels Bo Molholm, formerly managing director of Denka, becomes a director of the Worldwide Industries, with responsibility for the Holbaek facility. Brian Falck Schmidt, formerly sales director at E Falck Schmidt, will be sales manager at Worldwide, responsible for the Falcon lines, while Thorkild Falentoft remains as sales manager for the Denka products.

Mr Falck Schmidt told AI that the two companies had been discussing a possible merger for the past two years, with discussions intensifying over the past six moths. “Our products are quire complementary”, he said, “and we could also see a good synergy in pulling together our forces from a sales and export perspective. We are strong in areas where Denka is less strong, and Denka is strong in some places where we are weak. So there were good synergies in building up a strong Danish company with high quality and innovative products.”

The two businesses will have a combined turnover of around ⋹20 million (US$26.4 million) in 2005, said Mr Falck Schmidt.

Worldwide Industries will use the Denka brand for the trailers and light truck products (mainly under 3.5 t GVW), and the Falcon Spider and Falcon Narrow will be used, respectively, for the Falck Schmidt Spider machines and the Denka special narrow machines.

• More details on www.khl.com