NACCO Materials Handling Group, Inc. (NMHG) announced that pending the completion of the proposed transactions between Gregory Poole Equipment Company, Dougherty Equipment Company, Inc., LiftOne LLC, VBS Inc. Material Handling Equipment, and Briggs Equipment, Inc. and execution of dealer agreements, the Company will have successfully completed a major restructuring of the dealer networks for its Hyster® and Yale® brands across six states.
Some time ago, Dougherty Equipment Company Inc., a Yale® dealer, advised NMHG of its intent to sell its dealer operations, located in portions of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia, upon the retirement of its Owner and Chief Executive Officer, Michael Dougherty. Over the past year, NMHG has worked with Dougherty to develop a viable succession plan and to help facilitate the sale of its material handling operations, while ensuring continuity for customers and associates.
NMHG is pleased to announce that a letter of intent to acquire Dougherty’s operations has been executed by Gregory Poole Equipment Company, headquartered in Raleigh, NC. At closing, expected around October 1, 2015, Gregory Poole will sell a portion of the Dougherty assets to LiftOne, LLC, a dual-brand dealer of Hyster® and Yale® lift trucks headquartered in Charlotte, NC. Also, in related transactions, Gregory Poole has executed letters of intent to acquire operations of VBS Inc. Materials Handling Equipment, a current Hyster® dealer with six branch locations across Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina, and certain assets and facilities of Briggs Equipment, Inc., a dual-brand Hyster® and Yale® dealer.
Subsequent to the completion of the transactions, Gregory Poole will become the Yale® dealer in portions of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, and the Hyster® dealer in most of Virginia and in portions of North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia. Gregory Poole will transition from existing competitive supplier relationships when appointed to represent the Hyster® and Yale® brands.
LiftOne, LLC, a subsidiary of Carolina Tractor and Equipment Company (“CTE”), is the current Hyster® dealer in portions of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Virginia and Kentucky, and the Hyster® and Yale® dealer in portions of Tennessee. Once the transactions are completed, LiftOne will also represent Yale® in portions of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
The Company is excited and looks forward to welcoming Gregory Poole to its authorized dealer network and believes the complexity of the transactions is mitigated by the talent, experience and leadership provided by Dougherty, VBS, and Briggs associates that are expected to become an integral part of the Gregory Poole enterprise and culture. The Company is pleased that its U.S. dual-brand dealer network will be expanded through both Gregory Poole and LiftOne upon completion of the proposed transactions and execution of dealer agreements for the assigned territories. We are also pleased to announce that in an unrelated transaction, Briggs Equipment, Inc. will be appointed as the dual-brand dealer in South Florida effective July 1, 2015. Briggs Equipment is the current Yale® dealer in portions of Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas and the Hyster® dealer in portions of Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee and a dual-brand dealer in portions of Georgia and Alabama.
“Representing over 10,000 units per year, across five states with four eastern United States marine ports (Norfolk, Wilmington, Charleston and Savannah), the market presently serviced by Dougherty Equipment, VBS and Briggs is critically important to both Hyster and Yale,” said NMHG Vice President Dealer Business Development, Bob Sattler. Network re-engineering and competitive conversion activity are important in securing our position as industry leaders in independent distribution. We are delighted to welcome Gregory Poole as our newest dealer and believe that their commitment to excellence and record of performance representing competitive brands will quickly translate into success with Hyster and Yale customers. The customer base in this re-engineered territory includes a diversified group of paper, pulp and wood processors, light and heavy manufacturing, conversion and assembly plants, as well as regional and national distribution centers requiring the complete range of material handling equipment and services that Hyster Company and Yale Materials Handling Corporation can uniquely support.”
