Daifuku Webb Acquires ELS to Expand Baggage Handling Business

Sept. 3, 2012
Daifuku Webb Holding Company, a subsidiary of Daifuku Co., Ltd., has reached an agreement with G&T Conveyor Company, Inc., to purchase all of the equity of Elite Line Services, LLC (ELS), one of the largest airport service providers in the U.S.

Daifuku Webb Holding Company, a subsidiary of Daifuku Co., Ltd., has reached an agreement with G&T Conveyor Company, Inc., to purchase all of the equity of Elite Line Services, LLC (ELS), one of the largest airport service providers in the U.S.

“This acquisition will help us increase our baggage handling business by allowing us to offer comprehensive support and maintenance,” said Brian Stewart, president and co-CEO of Daifuku Webb Holding Company.

ELS has more than 800 employees that provide operations and maintenance support for baggage handling systems, passenger boarding bridges and ground support equipment. It is headquartered in Carrollton, Texas, and operates in more than twenty of the nation’s busiest airports.

In April 2010, Daifuku Co., Ltd. launched a three-year business plan called “Material Handling and Beyond,” where it expressed a commitment to position airport baggage handling as one of its core businesses. Jervis B. Webb Company, a subsidiary of Daifuku Webb, provides airport baggage handling systems primarily in North America. In 2011, the Group completed the purchase of Logan Teleflex, another leading baggage handling company with locations in the United Kingdom, France and the U.S.

ELS will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daifuku Webb within the Daifuku Group.

G&T is majority owned by Brynwood Partners IV L.P., a private equity fund. The transaction is subject to final governmental approval under CFIUS regulations and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012.

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