Hitachi (Hitachi Koki Co., Ltd) just announced today that they’re acquiring 100% ownership of Metabo (metabo Aktiengesellschaft). They also acquired Metabo parent company Power Tool Invest B.V. (“PTI”), which is headquartered in Schiphol, Netherlands. PTI, the holding company of Metabo, owns 80 percent of the stock, with the founding family, executives and employees of Metabo making up the other 20 percent. Hitachi acquired the full 80% of corporate shares of Metabo while at the same time purchasing the 20% of shares from the founding family, executives, and employees. As Hitachi acquires Metabo, we can’t help but think this will mean a huge shakeup both here and overseas.
Hitachi Acquires Metabo
We just saw the announcement of the Metabo LiHD batteries and related technology which piqued our interest. Add to that the announcement of the Lowe’s and Hitachi exclusive deal, and you have an interesting scenario developing that could finally deliver some serious Pro-level tools to consumers in a way that wasn’t formerly available. Metabo has sales offices in 25 countries, but its strength has always been in Germany and other European countries. Now, we may finally see more of these tools hit the U.S. market.
Hitachi, however, has the same issues in the U.S., with cordless power tool sales that are well under the big three (even while its pneumatic tools are some of the most widely used). Hitachi Koki also stands to gain by expanding its tools into the European market through this acquisition.
The deal was for just under $180 million dollars. You can read the full Hitachi press release for more detailed info.
