Waltco parent acquires liftgate companies

March 1, 2008
Hiab, the load-handling business area of Cargotec that owns Waltco Truck Equipment, has signed an agreement to acquire DEL Equipment (UK) Ltd and Ultron Lift Corp.

Hiab, the load-handling business area of Cargotec that owns Waltco Truck Equipment, has signed an agreement to acquire DEL Equipment (UK) Ltd and Ultron Lift Corp. based in Buffalo NY. The companies, owned by Militello Holdings, manufacture liftgates in the United Kingdom and in the United States. Sales in 2007 exceeded 23 million euros.

The acquisitions will provide Hiab's Waltco Truck Equipment with an expanded product line for its distributors to sell, according to Rod Robinson, president of Waltco. It will do the same for Zepro liftgate distributors in Europe. In all, Waltco and Zepro liftgates are sold through distributors in more than 50 nations.

Ultron Lift has factory locations in the United States, Canada, and England. The company had been known as DEL since its start in Toronto as Diesel Equipment Limited in 1945. DEL expanded operations into the United States when it opened its DEL America Corp. plant in Buffalo in 1978. The Ultron name was adopted in 2002.

The current management at DEL and Ultron will remain in their positions.