Terex, headquartered in Westport, Conn., acquired Memphis, Tenn.-based Coleman Engineering, a manufacturer of light towers and power generators for the construction market. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The Coleman operations will become a unit of the Terex Light Construction Group, based in Rock Hill, S.C., where the company already manufactures Amida light towers. Terex's Light Construction Group manufactures portable mobile floodlighting systems, concrete products and traffic control towers. The acquisition enables Terex Light Construction to enter the power-generation market.

Coleman, formerly owned by Tommy Coleman, had annual revenue of about $15 million. Its generators are designed for fixed standby, mobile construction and emergency uses. It manufactures packaged generator units ranging from 15 kilowatts to 2,000 kilowatts. Terex plans to continue to manufacture the products at Coleman's plants in Memphis and Holly Springs, Miss.

Terex's Light Construction Group has annual revenue of $55 million. Terex expects to top $2 billion in total revenue in 2000.