Kion Group AG (styled as KION Group) is a German multinational manufacturer of materials handling equipment, with its headquarters in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Da ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. Its principal products are intralogistics, warehouse automation equipment, and industrial (forklift) trucks. KION Group was founded in 2006 by the demerger of

The Linde Group Linde plc is a global multinational chemical company founded in Germany and, since 2018, domiciled in Ireland and headquartered in the United Kingdom. Linde is the world's largest industrial gas company by market share and revenue. It serves ...

's materials handling equipment operations. It is the world's second-largest manufacturer of forklifts measured by revenues (after Toyota Industries).

Name

"Kion" is an invented name derived from the

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language official in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa * Swahili culture Swahili culture is the culture of ...

word "Kiongozi", which means "leader".

History

On 6 September 2006 Linde AG announced a new structure following the completion of its acquisition of

The BOC Group BOC Ltd is a British based multinational, industrial gas company, more commonly known as BOC, now a part of Linde plc. In September 2004, BOC had over 30,000 employees on six continents, with sales of over £10.6 billion. BOC was a constituent ...

, with the gas and engineering businesses of the combined entity operating as

and the materials handling businesses (Linde Material Handling, STILL, and OM Carrelli Elevatori S.p.A.) operating as KION Group. Linde AG sold KION Group to a partnership of

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global investment company that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its stra ...

and

Goldman Sachs Capital Partners Goldman Sachs Capital Partners is the private equity arm of Goldman Sachs, focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments globally. The group, which is based in New York City, was founded in 1986. As of 2019, GS Capital Partners ha ...

for approximately €4 billion. In January 2009 KION Group formed a China-based forklift manufacturing joint venture, Kion Baoli (Jiangsu) Forklift, with Jiangsu Shangqi Group and Jingjiang Baoli Forklift. In May 2010 KION Group acquired full management control of Kion Baoli. In March 2011, KION Group and the Indian engineering company

Voltas Voltas Limited is an Indian multinational home appliances and consumer electronics company headquartered in Mumbai. It designs, develops, manufactures and sells products including air conditioners, air coolers, refrigerators, washing mac ...

agreed to form a new joint venture, Voltas Materials Handling, comprising the two companies' material handling equipment operations in India. KION Group acquired Voltas' 34% shareholding in the venture in November 2012. In August 2012, the China-based Shandong Heavy Industry's

Weichai Power Weichai Power Co., Ltd is a developer and manufacturer of diesel engines with headquarters in Weifang, Shandong in the People's Republic of China. It also manufactures forklifts and non-diesel engine automotive parts. History Weichai Power wa ...

subsidiary agreed to acquire a 25% stake in KION Group for €467 million, and a 70% majority stake in Kion's hydraulics business for €271 million. In February 2013 KION Group agreed to sell the product rights to the Linde brand's reach stacker, empty container handler and laden container handler product lines to the Finnish crane manufacturer

Konecranes Konecranes Oyj (KCI Konecranes prior to 16 March 2007) is a Finland, Finnish company, headquartered in Hyvinkää, which specialises in the manufacture and service of crane (machine), cranes and lifting equipment as well as the service of machine ...

for an undisclosed sum. In June 2016 KION Group acquired Dematic to make them the global leader in advanced material handling solutions. In July 2019, an announcement by KION Group and BMZ Holdings mentioned they will host a 50/50 joint venture that will manufacture lithium-ion batteries (64V, 48V) for the KION Group's trucks at the BMZ HQ manufacturing facility.

Brands

KION Group sells its products under the following brand names: * Baoli * Fenwick * Linde Material Handling * OM STILL * STILL *

(only in Material Handling) * Dematic

References

{{Authority control Manufacturing companies based in Frankfurt Forklift truck manufacturers Companies established in 2006 2013 initial public offerings Companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange Companies in the MDAX