Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Nichiyu Forklift to acquire UniCarriers

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) and Mitsubishi Nichiyu Forklift Co., Ltd. have jointly taken the decision to acquire 100% ownership of UniCarriers Corporation by purchasing all shares currently held by Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ), Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd., and Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. A contract on the transfer of the shares was concluded today. The transaction, if approved by the relevant authorities, will result in MHI and Mitsubishi Nichiyu Forklift holding respective stakes in UniCarriers of 65% and 35%.

MHI, in its new three-year “2015 Business Plan” commencing in the current fiscal year, hoisted the strengthening of its global competitiveness through accelerated business expansion as one of the plan’s core policies. Acquisition of UniCarriers was decided in line with that policy.

Mitsubishi Nichiyu Forklift, in its “Best Integration 2017” medium-term business plan that got under way in fiscal 2014, is looking to further strengthen its position in its industry as a leading company on global scale. The decision to acquire UniCarriers constitutes a central part of the company’s business strategies for achieving that goal.

Mitsubishi Nichiyu Forklift launched earlier this year as a company integrating the forklift truck operations of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Nippon Yusoki Co. (Nichiyu). Parent company Mitsubishi Nichiyu ranked in sixth place last year on Modern’s Top 20 Lift Truck suppliers list with $1.96 billion. Unicarriers finished seventh with revenues of $1.69 billion. Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America operates under a manufacturing and distribution agreement with Jungheinrigh AG to distribute Jungheinrich branded forklifts throughout North America.

In today’s forklift industry, amid intensifying global competition scale expansion is becoming increasingly important for securing profitability. Scale expansion has also become indispensable in the realm of research and development, including new technologies, as the industry increasingly faces the need to respond to global environmental issues.

Through acquisition of UniCarriers, MHI and Mitsubishi Nichiyu Forklift will achieve a full lineup of product offerings giving them greater response capacity to customers’ diverse needs. The move will also enhance the companies’ R&D capabilities and boost product competitiveness. Furthermore, through mutually complementary sales networks, their global expansion opportunities will be enhanced, thereby strengthening their business foundations and enabling expansion in business scale. In addition, by aggregating the cutting-edge innovative technologies of the MHI group companies, the acquisition of UniCarriers is targeted at creating products of high added value and a business model transcending the conventional parameters of the logistics machinery and equipment industry.

Going forward, a preparatory committee will be launched under which MHI and Mitsubishi Nichiyu Forklift will work together with UniCarriers to draw up business policies and strategies that will further enhance the reputation as a world-class manufacturer of logistics machinery and equipment. Details will be disclosed as soon as they become available.