German/Swiss tower crane manufacturer Wolffkran has acquired all of the equity in its Norwegian crane sales & rental joint venture - Wolffkran Norge.
The business was set up in November 2021 as a 50/50 venture with Mikkelsen using a yard shared with Mikkelsen’s crane business - Bluecrane. Wolffkran Norge has been loss making since the start, which, it seems, has been a factor in the two partner's mutual decision for Wolffkran to take over the business.
According to Wolffkran the initial phase of the Norwegian joint venture was successful, but that it encountered challenges due to 'current market conditions'.
The company will continue to be led by managing director Frank Kvam with chairman Sven Jung, while the Mikkelsen directors will step down from the board, with Wolffkran group chief executive Duncan Salt and managing director of Wolffkran Germany- Andreas Kahl making up the numbers.
Duncan Salt said: "Establishing a company from scratch in a new market is always a challenge and without the support of the Mikkelsen Group, these initial steps would not have been possible. We thank the entire Mikkelsen family for their support and invaluable expertise in founding Wolffkran Norge."
Wolffkran Norge’s address in Åros south of Oslo to the west of Drammen.
Mikkelsen was established in July 1971, by Bent Mikkelsen a self-employed truck driver, over the next 10 years he built the business into a successful crane rental and transport business. Then in 1993 he used the profit and cash it was generating to purchase his first property Åssiden /Drammen kicking off the Mikkelsen real estate development business.
Over the next 10 years devoted most of his time to the property business, but when his daughter Ida joined the company as general manager in 2017, he directed his focus back to his real passion of crane rental - BlueCrane. The real estate operation B_VAR now owns 13 commercial properties, making it one of the largest private property companies in the Drammen area.
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