MHI Acquires Daily Equipment Company,

DE was established in 1985 and has approximately 160 employees. From its headquarters in Jackson, Mississippi, the company maintains six sales bases in that state and neighboring Louisiana. DE sells forklift trucks and other logistics equipment including the three product brands handled by MCFA: Mitsubishi forklift trucks, Cat^® lift trucks and Jungheinrich^®. After this acquisition, MHI plans to expand DE's sales of forklifts, parts and service while keeping DE's management unchanged.

The acquisition expands MHI's direct sales network supporting the customer-oriented business model in the North American market. It will also create efficiencies with MCFA's other factory owned dealers in North America.

In its Medium-Term Business Plan (2012 Business Plan) launched this year, MHI is looking to fortify its earnings base in forklift truck operations by implementing two core policies: reorganizing its global production structure and strengthening its service operations. Production and business restructuring processes are already under way mainly in Japan and Europe, and now with the fortification of its service operations in the core North American market, the company will accelerate its initiative to further expand its global share within the forklift truck market, targeting sales of 250 billion yen in the fiscal year 2014 (ending March 31, 2015).