Veri-Tek acquires Liftking

At a purchase price of C$8 million, Veri–Tek International Corp. has completed the acquisition of Woodridge, Ontario–based Liftking Industries Inc. Liftking manufactures rough terrain forklifts and other special vehicles. The deal follows Veri–Tek's acquisition in 2006 of boom Texan truck manufacturer Manitex.

Former Liftking executive Mark Aldrovandi will continue as president of Manitex Liftking. “We believe Liftking has a bright future, and being part of the larger company will only provide us greater opportunity to achieve our growth goals,” he said. “Manitex and Liftking will be able to integrate customer contacts, distribution and product knowledge to further develop market share and manufacturing efficiencies.”

Liftking's assets were purchased by a wholly owned Canadian subsidiary of Veri–Tek known as Manitex Liftking. Liftking reported revenues of C$20.5 million for the year to July 30, 2006 and has more than 6000 units operating worldwide and over 170 dealer locations.