Turkish firm buys Japan’s subsidary

ANKARA

Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan (R) poses with the C-levels of the firms which made the deal.

Turkish Hidromek, a leading manufacturer of construction machinery based in the capital city of Ankara, has acquired the motor grader business of Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI).

“It was just a dream for Turkish companies to acquire foreign companies just 11 years ago, but the direct investment of Turkish companies abroad has reached up to $25 billion,” said Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan during a signature ceremony between Hidromek and MHI yesterday, Anadolu Agency reported.

Production in Thailand

Under the agreement, HIDROMEK will purchase MHI’s operations in motor graders, construction machinery used for land grading, MHI’s related technologies, design expertise and servicing operations, as well as the ownership of MHI-Pornchai Machinery Co., Ltd., a production base in Thailand that has until now manufactured MHI’s products for markets in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

“This is our third direct investment abroad after our investments in Spain and Russia. We are aiming at becoming more active in Asian countries thanks to our new facilities in Thailand,” said Hidromek Chairman Hasan Basri Bozkurt.

Hidromek has four local production bases and a global network of sales agents in 35 nations. Net sales in 2012 equated to approximately $342 million. The company has roughly 1,400 employees.

MHI had solidly maintained its operations in motor graders even after transferring its business in hydraulic shovels and other types of construction machinery to Caterpillar Inc. during the first quarter of 2012.

“Its decision to transfer its motor grader operations to Hidromek at this time was based on the company’s quest to further advance concentration on its core competencies,” MHI announced through a written statement yesterday.