Manitex International, a manufacturer of boom truck cranes, rough terrain forklifts and other equipment, last week acquired the assets and certain liabilities of Load King Trailers from Genie Industries, a subsidiary of Terex Corp. For Terex, it was the second divestment in two weeks, having sold its mining business in late December.

Load King Trailers, based in Elk Point, S.D., is a manufacturer of specialized custom trailers and hauling systems typically used for transporting heavy equipment. Manitex acquired the company for $3.1 million, including a promissory note of $2.75 million, Manitex shares valued at $250,000 and $100,000 in cash. Load King’s last five years’ average annual revenues were about $23 million.

“Load King has a strong industry reputation for high-quality customized trailers,” said Tim Maxson, named president and general manager of Load King. “The opportunity to become part of the Manitex organization supports our strategy of continuing to provide our customers with ‘best-in-class’ service and quality in all aspects of our business. Manitex will offer Load King access to a customer base that can be leveraged to grow our existing market share while contributing to the Manitex bottom line through another strong brand.”

“The acquisition brings us additional government and military relationships, outstanding manufacturing capabilities and a strong distribution network, particularly within the energy, railroad and construction industries,” said Andrew Rooke, president and chief operating officer of Manitex International. “The addition of Load King will create additional market opportunities for us as we leverage our distribution networks where we can offer the new Load King new product lines to our current dealers, and offer Manitex’s core products to Load King’s dealership network. We anticipate moderate revenue and cash flow contributions in the second half of 2010 from Load King, with a more substantial impact occurring in following years as construction equipment sales growth accelerates with the recovery of this sector.”

Load King began operations in 1956 and has manufactured and sold trailers in North America and internationally, specializing in the construction, railroad, oilfield and transportation markets.