The JSE-listed Imperial Holdings group, through its subsidiary Associated Motor Holdings (AMH), on Wednesday announced that it had acquired a majority holding in the Goscor Group of companies, a diversified industrial and engineering group.

Founded in South Africa, the Goscor Group hs supplied the local market with industrial equipment, such as forklifts and generators, for the past 26 years. It consisted of six divisions, and employed 250 people.

“Goscor’s strong presence in the industrial equipment market is a perfect strategic fit with Imperial’s core competencies and extensive experience in the fields of transport, distribution and servicing,” said AMH CEO Manny de Canha.

“The Goscor Group’s existing customer base and access to world class technologies and products offers growth potential for Imperial. We aim to add our expertise to the Goscor product offering and, together, leverage the opportunities that this acquisition offers.”

Goscor CEO Neil Wilson noted that being part of the Imperial group provided the company with “a new platform, allowing us to take advantage of Imperial’s substantial Southern African footprint. Its financial muscle and solid reputation in the market will help us to further develop our business.”

Imperial executives Manny de Canha and Osman Arbee would serve on the Goscor board.

Imperial was a diversified industrial services and retail group with activities spanning logistics, car rental, tourism, financial services, vehicle distribution and retail. Imperial operated in South Africa, Africa, Europe and Australia.

Imperial employed 34 500 people.

The Goscor Group of companies consisted of the Goscor Lift truck company; sole distributors of Crown, Doosan and Bendi forklifts; ARC, a welding and cutting systems equipment supplier; Goscor Rental company, a flexible short-term forklift rental company; Goscor Power products, a distributor of engines, generators, lawn mowers and construction equipment; Goscor Cleaning equipment, a distributor of various cleaning equipment from leading brands; Goscor Compressed air systems, a distributor of Sullair portable and stationary compressors, air tools, vacuum pumps, dryers and filtration units; and Goscor Finance, which provided finance solutions for clients to obtain Goscor equipment.

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