The Crosby Group LLC, a lifting, rigging and material handling hardware company, completed the acquisition of Straightpoint (SP), a manufacturer of load cells and force measurement equipment, on January 2. The value of the transaction has not been disclosed.
“We’ve had a close relationship with SP for quite a while — its load shackles are based on the industry standard Crosby G2130 shackle, and we use SP products on our Safe Rigging trucks. SP’s position as a leader and innovator in load measurement and monitoring, and the opportunity to integrate its technology into our already strong portfolio, made this a compelling addition to Crosby,” said Robert Desel, chief commercial officer at Crosby.
“Safe lifting is in Crosby’s DNA and load monitoring is a critical part of that equation. Monitored lifts are inherently safer and we can now increase adoption of this best practice on a global scale.”
What’s next for Straightpoint:
The acquisition of Straightpoint includes its manufacturing facility and headquarters located in Hampshire, UK. The facility will become Crosby’s center of excellence for load monitoring and measurement, in addition to key personnel based in the United States.
David Ayling, formerly CEO at Straightpoint, will step into a new role overseeing sales, marketing and product development functions for all load monitoring equipment.
“SP has built a very strong team focused on innovation and high service levels and we wanted to ensure we could maintain and capitalize on these important features of the company,” Ayling said.
“Crosby’s brand, its channel strength, global reach, and management team will enable us to build on our strengths and take the business to a new level. Becoming part of Crosby represents an opportunity to deliver our solutions to more customers and increase the pace of our innovation. It is an exciting new chapter for SP, its team members, and customers.”
For 40 years, Straightpoint has manufactured and supplied cabled and wireless telemetry loadlink, load shackles, load cells, digital dynamometers, compression loadcells, crane scales, running line tensiometers and software solutions as well as a range of intrinsically safe load cells.
Ayling confirmed that Straightpoint would maintain its commitment to non-rigging markets, such as the weighing sector.
“The acquisition is focused on growth,” Desel said. “SP already represented a force in the marketplace and as part of Crosby we can position its products and expertise closer to the point of use and increase the pace of innovation.”
