Aebi Schmidt completes takeover of The Shyft Group
Frauenfeld/Novi - Aebi Schmidt has acquired The Shyft Group. This merger was preceded by a vote of the US company’s shareholders. From now on, the shareholders of the manufacturer of specialty vehicles based in Frauenfeld will hold a majority stake of 52 percent in the combined company.
(CONNECT) Aebi Schmidt, the specialty vehicles manufacturer from Frauenfeld in Switzerland, has acquired The Shyft Group. As detailed in a press release, prior to this 99 percent of the shareholders present at a general meeting of the US company from Novi in the US State of Michigan approved the merger. The combined group companies will in future operate under the name Aebi Schmidt Group. The transaction was closed at the end of June, with the shares in the merged company being traded on the NASDAQ since the beginning of July.
The merger results in the “world’s leading specialty vehicle manufacturer” with annual turnover of around 2 billion US dollars, as the press release explains. The headquarters will remain in Frauenfeld. Barend Fruithof, CEO of Aebi Schmidt, will not only lead the company in the same role but will also become Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors. Aebi Schmidt will nominate six of the 11 members of the Board of Directors, with Shyft responsible for appointing the remaining five. The merged company operates 70 locations around the world, of which 40 are situated in the USA. As a national producer in the USA, the company reduces dependencies and problems in the export and import of specialty vehicles such as winter maintenance vehicles.
“We have a lot of integration work ahead of us. But we are familiar with this type of situation and are optimistic that we will build an organization aimed at future growth”, as CEO Barend Fruithof states in another press release. ce/ww