JOST has agreed to acquire Ålö Holding AB (Ålö), one of the world's leading manufacturers of agricultural front loaders.
The acquisition will transform JOST’s existing agricultural business into another cornerstone of the group.
Ålö is headquartered in Umeå, Sweden. It has production sites in Sweden, China, the US and France as well as sales offices in all significant markets. The company develops, produces and markets its agricultural applications under the internationally renowned brand Quicke. Since its foundation in 1949, Ålö has become a leading company in the international market for agricultural front loaders. With about 700 employees and a worldwide market share of approximately 30 per cent, Ålö's attractive product portfolio and wide customer network of OEMs and dealers will strengthen JOST’s presence in the agricultural sector.
In the future, JOST will use its own expertise in Asia, Africa and Latin America to accelerate Ålö's access to these markets, thereby creating further opportunities for growth. At the same time, JOST will expand its industrial expertise as a producer and supplier of systems and components for agricultural commercial vehicles, strengthening its position in this promising market. JOST expects that the integration of Ålö will also generate synergies in product de-velopment and purchasing as well as in the joint commercialisation of products for the agricultural industry marketed under JOST’s current brand ROCKINGER and Ålö’s brand Quicke.
Joachim Dürr, CEO of JOST Werke AG, is pleased about the acquisition.
“With Ålö we are acquiring one of the largest manufacturers of agricultural front loaders worldwide,” he said. “Like JOST, service quality, customer orientation and sales excellence are Ålö's top priorities. The company operates under the long-established and international renowned brand Quicke. This makes Ålö a perfect match for JOST. For us, this acquisition is an important strategic step towards supplying an even broader base of customers in the commercial vehicle industry with high-quality products and intelligent system solutions. Moreover, it will give us access to new growth fields.”
Dr Christian Terlinde, CFO of JOST Werke AG, is also looking forward to future growth.
“This investment enables us to benefit from the sustainable growth trends in the off-highway segment in addition to our classic on-road business,” he said. “Ålö complements JOST not only strategically but also financially. We expect the acquisition to be accretive to JOST's earnings already in 2020.”
Niklas Åström, CEO of Ålö, commented: “In JOST we have found an ideal industrial partner who, like us, maintains close contact with OEMs and end customers and clearly understands and appreciates the strategic advantages of a strong product brand. We can learn a lot from each other. By bundling our know-how we will be able to develop promising business areas together”.
The acquisition is subject to approval by the relevant antitrust authorities. Closing is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2020.