Japanese forklift manufacturer Toyota Industries Corp. (TICO) has signed an agreement to acquire Vanderlande Industries, a Dutch manufacturer of automated material handling systems for warehouses, airports and parcel handlers, in a deal estimated at $1.2 billion.
The deal will further expand Toyota’s material handling business beyond forklifts, and it follows closely on the heels of Toyota’s acquisition last month of Bastian Solutions, a material handling systems integrator. It continues a trend of industrial conglomerates acquiring major material handling solution providers, such as Honeywell’s acquisition of Intelligrated and KION Group’s acquisition of Dematic last year.
Vanderlande will retain its name and corporate identity, and will continue its operations as a standalone entity from its current locations worldwide.
Founded in 1949, Vanderlande has capabilities in material handling systems for the retail and parcel handling industries and is a leading provider of passenger baggage handling systems for airports. Vanderlande also develops and manufactures a full lineup of sorters, conveyors, and other material handling equipment and software. Vanderlande has 50 sites around the world and a staff of approximately 4,500 associates. In 2016, net sales of the company amounted to approximately $1.2 billion.
