LiuGong Machinery, the Chinese quarrying and mining equipment manufacturer based in Liuzhou, has finalised an agreement to acquire Poland’s Huta Stalowa Wola (HSW) and its distribution subsidiary Dressta, which is a well known brand for large dozers and wheel loaders used in mining. The agreement was signed by both companies’ executives in Warsaw. Dressta models include the 5.7 m3 bucket 560E wheel loader and the 68 t TD-40E crawler dozer. David Beatenbough, currently Vice President of Research and Development for LiuGong, has been named Chairman of the Board of the new entity, LiuGong Machinery (Poland). The transaction is LiuGong’s first outright acquisition outside its domestic market.
HSW is a respected producer of bulldozers and other crawler machines under the Dressta brand. It is one of only seven manufacturers worldwide producing a complete line of bulldozers, from 74 hp to 520 hp. The Polish government was the primary owner of HSW. It agreed in principal to sell to LiuGong earlier this year with the signing of a preliminary enterprise acquisition agreement in Beijing, China. LiuGong’s acquisition of HSW is a major strategic step for the company, which has a publically stated goal of becoming a top 10 construction equipment manufacturer by 2015. The company, often ranked as the largest wheel loader manufacturer in the world, is also among the world’s fastest growing construction firms along with rival Sany. The company sold 75,000 machines in 2011 and has posted an average of 40% annual revenue growth for the past six years running in overseas markets. HSW is well known for manufacturing high-quality crawler dozers at its plant in the Podkarpackie province in southwestern Poland. HSW also produces wheel loaders, loggers, pipe layers, conveyer belt shifters, motor graders and machines customised for landfill applications, also for global markets.
David Beatenbough commeneted: “We will acquire proven technology within the bulldozer segment, as we will now own all the technology and designs, including undercarriages and driveline components. HSW machines have a long and respected design history reaching back to International Harvester, which was an early developer for the track-type undercarriages that presaged construction equipment as we know it today. ” He added that LiuGong will benefit from HSW’s experience with large model machines. Beatenbough also noted LiuGong will also benefit from HSW’s plant location in central Europe, closer to its European customers, without having to undertake a long, expensive construction project. A talent exchange will bring Chinese engineers to Poland, and send Polish engineers to China for training. The first fast-track project will be an investment into production line equipment and re-tooling at the Podkarpackie plant, enabling it to produce LiuGong excavators and wheel loaders as quickly as possible. LiuGong said it will move rapidly to leverage the combined distribution network to bring the expanded product line to dealers – HSW products to LiuGong dealers and LiuGong products to HSW/Dressta dealers. In the near term all three brands will be retained in certain markets.
