Komatsu Ltd. (Tokyo) and Linde AG (Wiesbaden, Germany) entered into a share transfer agreement that terminates the “joint venture agreement” related to their joint venture company, Komatsu Forklift Co., Ltd. Komatsu agreed to buy back the 35% of the forklift company’s shares held by Linde and to make it a wholly-owned subsidiary of Komatsu.
Notwithstanding the dissolving of the joint venture, both Komatsu and Linde will proceed with existing joint projects in Europe, Asia and Japan. Currently, in Europe, Linde’s subsidiary in Italy, OM Carrelli Elevatori S.p.A., distributes Komatsu Forklift products as the distributor in the region, and at the same time, manufactures Komatsu Forklift products on a license basis.
In Southeast Asia, Komatsu Forklift’s subsidiary in Singapore, Komatsu Forklift Asia Pte. Ltd., sells OEM products supplied by Linde’s subsidiary in Germany, Still GmbH, under the Komatsu brand. In Japan Komatsu Forklift distributes Linde products through its domestic sales network under the Linde brand.
Source: Komatsu Ltd., Linde AG.
