Palfinger
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The Palfinger AG (stylized as PALFINGER AG), headquartered in Bergheim, Austria, is a publicly traded technology and machinery manufacturing company for hydraulic crane and lifting equipment for the land and maritime sectors. The company, founded in 1932, is known for its truck-mounted loader cranes.<ref name=":3" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
With over 100 models of this product, Palfinger is considered a global market leader.<ref name=":5">"Palfinger ist Hersteller von hydraulischen Hebe- und Ladevorrichtungen". Kronen Zeitung. 1 July 2018.</ref><ref name=":6">"Palfinger: Erfolge in Europa, Russland, China". Die Presse. 1 February 2018.</ref>
History
1930s to 1960s: Foundation and orientation
The history of Palfinger dates back to 1932, with the founding of a repair shop for agricultural trailers, tippers, and vehicle bodies by Richard Palfinger.<ref name=":0">Pleininger, Hans (16 May 2011): "Palfinger ist Salzburgs bestes Familienunternehmen". Wirtschaftsblatt.</ref><ref>"Kräne für die ganze Welt". Die Presse. 30 April 2005.</ref> The company built its first crane in 1959, and when Richard's son Hubert took over management in 1964, production was switched to hydraulic loader cranes.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">"Österreichs Exporteure stellen sich dem Wettbewerb". Wirtschaftsblatt. 1 July 2015.</ref>
1970s to 2000s: Internationalization and expansion
In the following years, the focus was on expanding the product range and internationalizing the company. In 1984, the company opened an assembly and manufacturing plant in Lengau with 90 employees.<ref>"Ein Ort mit Hebelwirkung". Kronen Zeitung. 1 August 2021.</ref> By 1989, Palfinger had expanded into over 70 countries and achieved an export rate of over 90%. In 1993, a plant was acquired in Maribor, Slovenia.<ref>"Der globalisierte Kran". Salzburger Nachrichten. 4 February 2005.</ref> Additionally, Palfinger opened a plant for the production of skip loaders in France.<ref>Berger, Sabine (23 April 2007): "Frankreich ist wichtiger Markt mit Eigenheiten". Wirtschaftsblatt.</ref> To further expand its business in the U.S. market, Palfinger acquired the American crane dealer Tiffin Loader Cranes and established Palfinger USA Inc.<ref>"Palfinger kauft US-Kranhändler". Salzburger Nachrichten. 16 January 2001.</ref> Furthermore, in 2001, the company acquired a partner in the South American market by acquiring the Brazilian company Madal.<ref>"Aufstieg zum Global Player". Salzburger Nachrichten. 6 June 2002.</ref>
The company went public in June 1999.<ref>"Wie Kräne in den Himmel wachsen". Die Presse. 11 March 2006.</ref> In 2004, Palfinger acquired Bison Deutschland, a provider of truck-mounted aerial work platforms.<ref>"Palfinger-Kräne bald in Asien montiert". Salzburger Nachrichten. 17 March 2005.</ref> A year later, the company acquired the British producer of tail lifts and entry systems, Ratcliff Tail Lifts.<ref>"Palfinger will in England hoch hinaus". Kurier. 15 June 2005.</ref> In 2005, the company opened an Asia headquarter in Singapore along with other locations in Asia.<ref>Mayr, Michael J. (8 November 2005): "Palfinger setzt am Asien-Markt kräftig die Hebel an". Wirtschaftsblatt.</ref> Additionally, Palfinger invested in its existing production sites in Bulgaria, Slovenia, Eastern Germany, and the USA.<ref>Mayr, Michael J. (26 January 2007): "Palfinger stockt heuer an neun Standorten auf". Wirtschaftsblatt.</ref>
In 2008, Palfinger acquired the American company Omaha Standard in Iowa, which manufactures truck bodies and liftgates for pickups.<ref>"Palfinger kauft US-Spezialfirma Omaha". Börsen-Zeitung. 26 September 2008.</ref> Additionally, they acquired the aerial work platform division of the German company Wumag.<ref>"Palfinger nutzt die Krise zur Expansion". Salzburger Nachrichten. 26 February 2009.</ref> In 2009, Palfinger purchased the container handling system manufacturer Automated Waste Equipment (AWE) in New Jersey,<ref>"Salzburger Betriebe kaufen in den USA zu". Salzburger Nachrichten.10 July 2009.</ref> as well as acquiring an 80% stake in the aerial work platform manufacturer Eti Inc. in Oklahoma.<ref>"Palfinger will nach Akquisition in den USA Zukauf im Osten heben". Der Standard. 30 March 2010.</ref> The following year, Palfinger entered the marine crane market through the acquisition of 75% of the Dutch company Ned-Deck Marine.<ref>"Palfinger kauft groß in den Niederlanden zu". Die Presse. 12. August 2010.</ref>
2010s: Growth through collaborations
In 2010, Palfinger acquired the marine and wind crane division of Palfinger Systems.<ref>"In Kürze – Palfinger vervollständigt die Sparte der Marinekräne". Die Presse. 29 October 2010.</ref> In 2012, a collaboration with the Chinese construction machinery manufacturer Sany Heavy Industries (Sany) began, resulting in the construction of a plant in Changsha.<ref>Paravicini, Stefan (1 March 2012): "Wir wollen China zu unserem zweiten Heimatmarkt machen". Börsen-Zeitung.</ref><ref>"Palfinger baut auf China". Kurier. 29 February 2012.</ref> That same year, Palfinger acquired the Brazilian metal component producer Tercek<ref>"Palfinger kauft in Brasilien ein". Salzburger Nachrichten. 21 September 2012.</ref> and the Norwegian Bergen Group Dreggen AS, which produces marine and offshore cranes.<ref>"Kranhersteller Palfinger expandiert auf hoher See".Kronen Zeitung. 31 October 2012.</ref><ref>Bruckberger, Hans-Jörg (6 November 2012): "Palfinger: Ein Marine-Zukauf macht noch keinen sicheren Hafen". Wirtschaftsblatt.</ref> In 2013, Palfinger, together with the company Sky Aces Srl., founded Palfinger Platforms Italy, which is active in the development, production, and sale of aerial work platforms.<ref>Exner, Andre (20 February 2013): "Palfinger baut in Italien Hubarbeitsbühnen". Wirtschaftsblatt.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At that time, the company operated over 29 facilities in 18 countries.<ref>"Palfinger zieht es in entfernte Regionen". Salzburger Nachrichten. 9 August 2013.</ref> Additionally, Sany acquired 10% of the shares in Palfinger, while Palfinger acquired 10% of the shares in Sany Lifting Ltd.<ref>"Chinesen steigen bei Palfinger ein". Salzburger Nachrichten. 1 October 2013.</ref>
In 2015, the new company headquarters in Bergheim was opened,<ref>Veigl, Stefan (26 September 2015): "Familie investiert 25 Millionen in neue Zentrale". Salzburger Nachrichten.</ref> accompanied by investments ranging from €3 million to €6 million in expanding the production site in Löbau.<ref>Brestrich, Carina (2 February 2015.): "Hebebühnen-Spezialist wächst über sich hinaus". Sächsische Zeitung.</ref> The following year, Palfinger acquired the Norwegian Harding Group, which almost doubled its business in the marine sector.<ref name=":1">"Palfinger wird maritimer". Börsen-Zeitung. 31 May 2016.</ref><ref>"Palfinger wird zu großem Schiffsausrüster". Wiener Zeitung. 19 July 2016.</ref> In the fiscal year 2016, Palfinger achieved a revenue of €1.36 billion. Furthermore, Sany reduced its stake to 7.5%.<ref>"1500". Salzburger Nachrichten. 9 November 2017.</ref>
In June 2018, Andreas Klauser took over as the CEO.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2020s: Expansion of Locations and Sales
In 2020, Palfinger acquired its second-largest independent distributor worldwide, Hinz Försäljnings, based in Sweden,<ref>"Palfinger expandiert weiter". Kronen Zeitung. 6 December 2020.</ref> and the following year took over the Spanish distributor Equipdraulic.<ref>"Palfinger übernimmt spanischen Partner". Salzburger Nachrichten. 11 February 2021.</ref> The cross-shareholding with the Sany Group of 7.5% was dissolved by the end of 2021.<ref>"Palfinger und Sany lösen ihre Kreuzbeteiligung". Salzburger Nachrichten. 16 December 2021.</ref> Furthermore, Palfinger began expanding the technology center in Köstendorf with investments totaling €5 million.<ref>"Investitionen in die Zukunft". Kurier. 21 May 2021.</ref> In the same year, Palfinger acquired the companies TSK Kran und Wechselsysteme GmbH and TSR Lacktechnik.<ref>"Palfinger übernimmt Partner TSK". Neues Volksblatt. 23 November 2021.</ref> Additionally, they acquired the rights to the Offshore Passenger Transfer System (OPTS) technology from Lift2Work B.V.<ref>"Palfinger baut Marinegeschäft aus". Salzburger Nachrichten. 6 October 2021.</ref> In the fiscal year 2023, the company surpassed the revenue threshold of €2 billion for the first time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2022, Palfinger opened a new location in Vienna called The Hub Vienna<ref>"Ein Standort für die Zukunft". Medianet. 2 December 2022.</ref> and relocated the truck-mounted aerial work platform production from Krefeld to Löbau.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The company also opened the Palfinger Campus as a training and education center and Palfinger World at its site in Lengau.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In June 2023, Palfinger established a central hub for its activities in the USA in Schaumburg, Illinois.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2023, Palfinger signed a ten-year contract with the Norwegian oil exploration and development company Aker BP for the development and market introduction of remote-controlled offshore cranes. In implementing this project, Palfinger is collaborating with the software developer Optilift.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Corporate structure
Palfinger achieved a revenue of €2.45 billion in the fiscal year 2023 with 12,728 employees.<ref name=":4" /> For the fiscal year 2023, the company generated 59.9% of its revenue in the EMEA region. North America accounted for 24.7% of the revenue.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The company has production and sales locations in Europe, North and South America, as well as Asia. Palfinger has more than 5,000 sales and service points in more than 130 countries.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The Palfinger family directly or indirectly holds 56.4% of the company's shares, making them the main shareholder.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Ownership structure
| Name | Anteil (in Prozent) |
|---|---|
| Palfinger family | 56.4 |
| Palfinger AG | 7.5 |
| Free float | 36.1 |
Since June 1999 Palfinger has been listed on the official market of the Vienna Stock Exchange.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The shares of Palfinger AG have also been traded on the OTC market of the Stuttgart, Berlin, Düsseldorf, and Frankfurt stock exchanges since mid-June 2000.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Products
The main product of Palfinger AG is the loader crane, Palfinger has over 100 models of this product and is the world market leader in this field.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>"Wie man schnell einen Kran faltet". Der Standard. 9 March 2016.</ref><ref name=":5" /> The company manufactures access platforms, truck-mounted forklifts, loader cranes, timber and recycling cranes, marine cranes, wind cranes, hooklifts, and railway systems.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite web</ref>
Palfinger produces a number of different types of lifting technologies for specialized and more general applications:<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Template:Div col* Loader cranes
- Timber and recycling cranes
- Access platforms
- Hooklifts and skip loaders
- Railway systems
- Tail lifts
- Passenger boarding systems
- Truck mounted forklift
- Crawler cranes
- Factory mounting
- Boats and davit systems
- Wind cranes
- Marine and offshore cranes
Additionally, for the North American market, Palfinger also offers specific products such as Truck mounted forklifts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
References
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