Hitachi sells stake in forklift business

Hitachi Construction Machinery has sold its 26.7% stake in forklift truck maker UniCarriers Holdings Corporation to Mitsubishi, as have other shareholders in the business. The deal was previously agreed in July.

The company says it will book a one-off profits of JPY 51.9 billion (US$ 461 million) in its accounts for the quarter ending March 31 as a result of the sale. These will be split into JPY 21.5 billion (US$ 191 billion) attributable to the structural reform of its business, which will be listed as ‘other profits’ and JPY 30.4 billion (US$ 270 million) as ‘extraordinary profits’.

Hitachi’s shares in the company have been sold to two companies within the Mitsubishi group – Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Forklift & Engine Turbo Holdings Corporation and Mitsubishi Nichiyu Forklift Co. Ltd. In a parallel move, UniCarriers’ other shareholders– Innovation Network Corporation, a Japanese public-private investment company (53.3%) and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd (20%) have also sold their shareholdings to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Nichiyu Forklift.

UniCarriers sells manufactures forklifts under the UniCarriers, TCM and Atlet brands and markets them worldwide.