IN FOCUS / AXEL JOHNSON
RIGGING SECTOR IN FOR A LIFT Axel Johnson International recently announced the expansion of its global capabilities within the lifting segment with the acquisition of five Australian companies. Interestingly for the local rigging and lifting sector, this is the first time Axel Johnson International’s Lifting Solutions business group has ventured into the Australian, New Zealand and Pacific markets. THE ACQUISITION INVOLVES FIVE LOCAL lifting companies – The Rigging Shed, Lifting Victoria, Elevate Lifting & Rigging, Schillings Hoisting Equipment and On Call Lifting. Together, the companies have 10 sites strategically distributed across the west, south and east part of Australia and will form a group under the leadership of Steven Flint, currently the Managing Director of the largest company in the group, The Rigging Shed. With approximately $40 million in sales and 125 employees, the companies provide lifting and rigging equipment
and related services. Their success is built on strong product knowledge, solid local relationships and a diversified customer base. Today, the companies are affiliated through an organisation called the Global Lifting group where the companies collaborate within purchasing. Cranes and Lifting magazine spoke with Steve Flint to discuss the background to the development and better understand what the crane sector can expect to see following the acquisition. “There is an interesting back story to the development. The owners and The new structure will provide the same level of service to crane businesses operating across multiple states including many of the multinationals.
108 / CAL January 2022
shareholders of The Rigging Shed, Lifting Victoria, Elevate Lifting & Rigging, Schillings Hoisting Equipment and On Call Lifting were are all in a similar position. We were operating businesses which were privately owned and not necessarily family-owned businesses. And collectively we realised that we were coming to the end of our time with the businesses,” he said. Flint discusses The Global Lifting Group, why it was started and how the collaboration between the participating businesses has benefitted customers and the industry in general “The Global Lifting Group was established in 1997 by what was then four small to medium sized businesses. They were seeking to increase their purchasing power in order to be competitive with the major lifting and rigging equipment suppliers operating in the Australian market. “The Global Lifting Group was able to take on more purchasing power and pass on better pricing to our customers. Where possible, we have looked to work together on projects but combining of resources was not really designed to service national crane companies for example, as each business has continued to trade independently. “During conversations with the various business owners, it was apparent we all had a similar outlook. We had spent many years building the businesses, they were successful, and we had built excellent, customer focused teams around us. But we were also beginning to see that we needed an exit strategy, and we didn’t have a succession plan in place,” said Flint. www.cranesandlifting.com.au
