SALT LAKE CITY, UT — American Equipment Holdings, a Rotunda Capital Partners portfolio company, has acquired Kistler Crane & Hoist, a Midwest provider of overhead crane systems and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) field services. The acquisition of Kistler Crane is the sixth acquisition completed by American Equipment since partnering with Rotunda in May of 2021.
Based in Omaha, NE, Kistler Crane will expand American Equipment’s geographic footprint to the Midwest, enabling both companies to extend their MRO field services and production reach to better serve national and regional customers. American Equipment’s best-in-class quoting, engineering, new equipment and parts resources will also strengthen Kistler Crane’s value-proposition and solution capabilities for its longstanding blue-chip customer base. Collectively, American Equipment and Kistler Crane will pursue additional complementary acquisitions throughout the midwestern U.S.
Kistler Crane’s owner, Mark McElligott, will continue to lead Kistler Crane as a division of American Equipment post-transaction.
“We are excited to welcome Kistler Crane to the American Equipment family and to partner with Mark, and the entire Kistler team,” said American Equipment CEO Adam Zimmerman. “The acquisition of Kistler Crane is another significant milestone in our strategy of expanding our geographic footprint and solution capabilities across the U.S. by acquiring long-tenured, best-in-class overhead crane production and MRO field service businesses.”
“We are excited to join American Equipment on its journey of becoming a national one-stop-shop overhead crane solutions provider. After our initial meeting, it was obvious to us that American Equipment was the right partner for us given our shared values around customer service, employee culture, safety and integrity,” said Mark McElligott, owner of Kistler Crane. “We are excited by the many new possibilities this partnership creates that will enable us to deliver maximum value to our customers across the country and to provide meaningful opportunities for our employees.”
American Equipment Holdings is home to a collection of leading overhead crane and hoist distributors and field service providers, including American Equipment, Allied Crane, Eastern Crane & Hoist, Facilities Engineering, Kistler Crane & Hoist, Pacific Crane & Hoist, and Washington Crane & Hoist. The consolidated entity is one of the largest independently owned overhead crane and hoist solutions providers in the country, serving over 4,000 customers across more than 20 strategic locations nationwide. Together, American Equipment Holdings provides comprehensive solutions for everything related to customers’ overhead crane and hoist needs, including OSHA mandated inspections, preventative maintenance and repair field services, parts, engineering, ISO-certified fabrication, new and replacement equipment, automated systems, system modernizations and training.
