KCI KONECRANES CONTINUES ITS STREAM OF BOLT ON ACQUISITIONS

KCI Konecranes acquired the assets of the company CraneMann Inc. based in Houston, USA on 12 February, 2003.

CraneMann Inc., founded as a family company in 1990, has grown to a full service crane supplier providing industrial cranes and special engineered cranes including maintenance services and parts.

CraneMann Inc. had a sales level of nearly $10,000,000 in 2001. The company employs 20 persons.

This acquisition will add to our growth in Maintenance services as well as provide the Special Cranes business area an entry to a new industry segment.
The Company has been very successful in supplying cranes also outside of the United States, particularly in Mexico and Latin America. Major emphasis has also been on sales to the oil industry. Since 1997, CraneMann has supplied twenty-five special cranes for use on off shore oil rigs. We expect this business to continue using KCI crane components.

KCI Konecranes will organise the new acquisition as a sales and service company. Crane manufacturing and engineering will be merged with Konecranes America's resources in Houston. With the support of Crane Pro Services (KCI Konecranes' North American service organisation) network, it is expected that service and parts sales will rise fast.

KCI Konecranes, headquartered in Hyvinkää, Finland is a world leading Engineering Group specialising in advanced overhead lifting solutions and maintenance services. KCI Konecranes is the world's leading supplier of heavy-duty cranes for process industries. KCI Konecranes is a global supplier of special harbour cranes for bulk materials and containers and a leading provider of shipyard cranes. In 2001, Group sales totalled EUR 756 million with over 4400 employees in 34 countries all over the world.

For further information, please contact:
Teuvo Rintamäki, Chief Financial Officer
Phone +358 20 427 2040

Tom Sothard, President Maintenance Services
Phone: +1 -(937)-525 5543