KONECRANES ENTERS NEW BUSINESS SEGMENT

Konecranes enters new business segment 

In July 2009, Konecranes widened its product offering by acquiring two
companies. Konecranes increased its ownership in the Austrian ACS Konecranes
GmbH (former ACS Technologies GmbH) from 49.9% to 80% and at the same time
acquired the assets of the German company Knight Europe GmbH & Co. KG. Through
these acquisitions Konecranes entered the market for load-handling solutions
with aluminum rail systems and manipulators. Both companies' main industrial
segments are aviation, automotive, health care, solar energy, food and
electronics industries. 

ACS Konecranes GmbH is located in Thalgau, in the Salzburg region. The company
has been partly owned by Konecranes since 2006 and employs 65 people.
Konecranes has a call option to purchase the remaining 20% of the company's
shares. 

Knight Europe GmbH & Co. KG, established in 1991, is located in Monheim, in the
Cologne-Dusseldorf region, and employs 45 people. The company is well
recognized in its field of business. In addition to load-handling solutions
with aluminum rail systems and manipulators, Knight Europe also offers air
balancers. 

From an application and technology point of view, manipulators are positioned
between cranes and robots. The manipulator business is closely linked to
Konecranes' competence, but it also offers new customer and product segments
with a high business potential. The current fragmented market is estimated to
be more than EUR 1 billion. The two acquired companies' combined net sales were
in 2008 approximately 15 MEUR. 

“Through the acquisition of ACS and Knight Europe, Konecranes can in the future
take the leading position in the manipulator industry,” says Ilpo Hakala,
Director of Workstation Lifting Systems. “Our strengths are an extensive
product offering, a large customer base, the financial strength to further
develop the business and our global sales and service network.” 


Further information: 
Press
Ilpo Hakala, Director, Workstation Lifting Systems 
e-mail: ilpo.hakala@konecranes.com or phone +358 20 427 3005

Investors and Analysts:
Sanna Päiväniemi, IR Manager
E-mail: sanna.paivaniemi@konecranes.com or phone +358 20 427 2050

This press release together with a downloadable picture is available on our
website www.konecranes.com. 

Konecranes is a world-leading group of Lifting Businesses™, serving a broad
range of customers, including manufacturing and process industries, shipyards,
ports and terminals. Konecranes provides productivity-enhancing lifting
solutions as well as services for lifting equipment and machine tools of all
makes. In 2008, Group sales totaled EUR 2,103 million. The Group has 9,700
employees in 485 locations in 43 countries. Konecranes is listed on the NASDAQ
OMX Helsinki Ltd (symbol: KCR1V). 

www.konecranes.com