Gregory Poole Equipment Acquires Hyster and Yale Dealership Assets
Gregory Poole Equipment Co. has acquired the operations and assets of Dougherty Equipment Co.; VBS Inc. Material Handling Equipment and certain assets of Briggs Equipment. The acquisition process has uncovered significant economies of scale, and synergies and is expected to nearly double the annual revenue of Gregory Poole’s Industrial Lift Systems division.
Following the acquisitions, Gregory Poole was named authorized dealer of Hyster and Yale lift trucks across four states and one of the region’s largest material handling dealers. Gregory Poole is now the Yale dealer in portions of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, and the Hyster dealer in most of Virginia and in portions of South Carolina, North Carolina and West Virginia. While Gregory Poole will no longer represent other competitive supplier relationships, it will continue to support its current customers through existing service agreements, the company said.
“Since our founding in 1951, we have built our organization on the core values of integrity and excellence in all that we do,” said Hal Ingram, Lift Systems Division vice president, Gregory Poole Equipment. “We have pulled from the best of several well-respected and high-performing organizations to create a top-notch team, and we can now provide customers with more reduced costs and lower total cost of ownership than ever before, along with a full range of Hyster and Yale forklift trucks from Class 1 to Class V.”
NACCO Materials Handling Group helped facilitate these transactions to address succession issues in several high-performing dealerships and to ensure continuity for customers, dealers and associates. The addition of Gregory Poole as a dealer allows NMHG to expand its U.S. dual-brand distribution of its Hyster and Yale product lines.
“We have enjoyed working with all parties over the last 24 months to ultimately come to a resolution that is mutually beneficial without losing sight of the customer and associate,” said NMHG vice president dealer business development Bob Sattler. “Expert technicians, industry-leading equipment and experienced consulting solutions made Gregory Poole one of the most respected dealers in the business. We are confident that this restructuring will bring greater support and product access to our customers, while providing valuable additions to our strong network of authorized Hyster and Yale dealers.”
Gregory Poole said the acquisition will result in:
- Enhanced service and support. The new Gregory Poole will have more technicians, deeper expertise, enhanced technician training and enhanced mixed fleet support;
- Larger capital investment results in more tooling, enhanced parts inventory, larger rental fleets, allied lines, demo equipment and service vans;
- More advanced technology systems to offer greater connectivity and more substantial fleet management programs;
- Reduced costs and lower total cost of ownership.
As part of a broader agreement, Gregory Poole has sold a portion of the assets acquired from Dougherty to LiftOne LLC, an authorized dealer of Hyster and Yale products headquartered in Charlotte, N.C. LiftOne is a subsidiary of Carolina Tractor and Equipment Co. and an authorized Hyster dealer in portions of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Virginia, Kentucky and portions of Tennessee, and an authorized Yale dealer in portions of North and South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.
With these changes Gregory Poole will transition from its former competitive lift truck supplier relationships, representing only Hyster and Yale lift trucks. Gregory Poole will continue its Caterpillar construction, forestry and power generation equipment dealer relationships.
