Azernews.Az

By Bloomberg

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. will pay more than 110 billion yen ($887 million) for UniCarriers Corp., creating the world’s third-biggest producer of forklift trucks.

Combined sales will total more than 400 billion yen a year. Toyota Industries Corp., an affiliate of the car company, and Germany’s Kion Group AG are the world’s top forklift makers.

The deal underscores Mitsubishi Heavy’s ambition to speed up expansion plans as it vies with manufacturing giants such as General Electric Co. and Siemens AG. President Shunichi Miyanaga is pursuing takeovers and alliances to help boost annual sales to 5 trillion yen, which he says is needed to compete effectively with rivals.

In a statement Friday, Mitsubishi Heavy also posted first- quarter results, with net income rising 58 percent to 35.5 billion yen for the three months ended June 30, better than expected. Operating profit was up 5 percent, less than expectations, while sales of 931.5 billion yen, up 8.3 percent, handily beat forecasts.

The Tokyo-based company will hold a 65 percent stake in UniCarriers while its forklift unit, Mitsubishi Nichiyu Forklift Co., will own 35 percent. Mitsubishi is active across a swathe of industrial sectors, from submarine building to aviation to supplying turbines for power stations.

State-backed Innovation Network Corp. of Japan, formed in 2009 to promote consolidation and new businesses, holds a 53.3 percent stake in UniCarriers; Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. owns 26.7 percent and Nissan Motor Co. has 20 percent, according to the venture’s website.

Mitsubishi Heavy combined its forklift operations with Nippon Yusoki Co., and took control of the venture in 2013. UniCarriers was formed through the merger of Nissan and Hitachi’s businesses the year before.

Mitsubishi Nichiyu Forklift generated sales of 260 billion yen for the financial year ended March 31. UniCarriers made 184.2 billion yen in the same period, according to its website.