Columbus McKinnon buys German monorail conveyance vendor for $110 million

Material handling equipment vendor Columbus McKinnon Corp. is expanding again through acquisition, announcing today that it has paid $110 million to buy the German firm montratec GmbH, which provides monorail transport systems that move goods for the electric vehicle (EV), semiconductor, electronics, life sciences, and aerospace sectors.

The price tag could rise by as much as $14 million if the firm hits certain performance targets. Montratec posted $29 million in revenue and 24% earnings margins for the year ending December 31, 2022.

Buffalo, New York-based Columbus McKinnon also bought the conveyor vendor Dorner Manufacturing Corp. in 2021 for $485 million. 

Columbus McKinnon declared net sales of $906 million and net income of $29 million for its fiscal year 2022, for sales of its main product lines in hoists, crane components, precision conveyor systems, rigging tools, light rail workstations, and digital power and motion control systems.

Montratec says its platform offers asynchronous movement, which enables products to be moved independently in multiple directions at varying speeds to balance production lines, increasing flexibility, and productivity. Their monorail systems interlink production processes between robots, other processing equipment, and workspaces. And both their monorail and shuttle/transport solutions can be configured for needs from low volume/high mix to high volume/high speed.

“Montratec is an ideal complement to our precision conveyance platform adding asynchronous technology for material transport solutions that accelerates our growth in very attractive markets with strong secular tailwinds,” David J. Wilson, President and CEO of Columbus McKinnon, said in a release. “Montratec’s solutions are at the heart of process automation in manufacturing, enhancing our precision conveying platform. Their technology advances our intelligent motion offering, expands market access, and increases our value proposition. We plan to realize significant sales synergies as we leverage their conveying technology through our existing channels in the U.S. and their solid foundation in Europe to expand our global precision conveyance market share.”