Kion Group AG (styled as KION Group) is a German multinational manufacturer of materials handling equipment, with its headquarters in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. Its principal products are intralogistics, warehouse automation equipment, and industrial (forklift) trucks. KION Group was founded in 2006 by the demerger of Linde's materials handling equipment operations. It is the world's second-largest manufacturer of forklifts measured by revenues (after Toyota Industries).[2]
Corporate headquarters in Frankfurt am Main
Name
"Kion" is an invented name derived from the Swahili word "Kiongozi", which means "leader".[3]
History
On 6 September 2006 Linde AG announced a new structure following the completion of its acquisition of BOC, with the gas and engineering businesses of the combined entity operating as The Linde Group and the materials handling businesses (Linde Material Handling, STILL, and OM Carrelli Elevatori S.p.A.) operating as KION Group. Linde AG sold KION Group to a partnership of KKR and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners for approximately €4 billion.
In January 2009 KION Group formed a China-based forklift manufacturing joint venture, Kion Baoli (Jiangsu) Forklift, with Jiangsu Shangqi Group and Jingjiang Baoli Forklift.[4] In May 2010 KION Group acquired full management control of Kion Baoli.[4]
In March 2011, KION Group and the Indian engineering company Voltas agreed to form a new joint venture, Voltas Materials Handling, comprising the two companies' material handling equipment operations in India.[5][6] KION Group acquired Voltas' 34% shareholding in the venture in November 2012.[7]
In August 2012, the China-based Shandong Heavy Industry's Weichai Power subsidiary agreed to acquire a 25% stake in KION Group for €467 million, and a 70% majority stake in Kion's hydraulics business for €271 million.[8][9]
In February 2013 KION Group agreed to sell the product rights to the Linde brand's reach stacker, empty container handler and laden container handler product lines to the Finnish crane manufacturer Konecranes for an undisclosed sum.[10]
In June 2016 KION Group acquired Dematic.[11] And in July 2019, an announcement by KION Group and BMZ Holdings mentioned they will host a 50/50 joint venture that will manufacture lithium-ion batteries (64V, 48V) for the KION Group's trucks at the BMZ HQ manufacturing facility.[12]
In 2018, KION Group AG expanded its presence in China and agreed a strategic partnership with EP Equipment Co. Ltd in the light-duty or "entry-level" warehouse equipment segmente. KION has acquired a minority stake in the Chinese truck manufacturer, which in the previous year, 2017, achieved record shipments of 50,000 units.[13]
In 2023, the company will have sales of €11.4 billion (up 2.67% from 2022), operating income of €791 million (up 170.9% from 2022) and net income of €306 million (up 188.7% from 2022).[14]
Brands
KION Group sells its products under the following brand names:
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