Wittrock buys access rental business from insolvency

German aerial platform rental and sales company WOB-SKY has been acquired by the Wittrock Group, the German crane, MEWP and forklift rental business.

The deal will see WOB-SKY’s Wolfburg location, fleet and 15 employees transferred to Wittrock and the re-branding of the operation to WOB-TEC GmbH.

The sale was organised through insolvency specialist Schultze & Braun, which was brought in by WOB-SKY following a restructuring earlier this year. The managing director of WOB-SKY, Oliver Barth, will remain as operations manager under Wittrock’s ownership.

Wittrock Group rents both cranes and aerial work platforms.

“The acquisition of the Wolfsburg site and its highly qualified employees represents a further development of our business”, said Marcus Wittrock and Oliver Herrmann, managing directors of Wittrock Group.

“We are delighted to welcome our new colleagues, who will undoubtedly enrich our group. For many decades, we have specialized in the crane, forklift, and aerial work platform segment – ​​a sector that thrives on maximum flexibility, reliability, and extensive expertise. With this acquisition, we can now offer and guarantee all of this to our customers on an even broader scale.”

Law firm involvement

Tobias Hartwig, of law firm Schultze & Braun, said, “Our joint efforts over the past few months have paid off, and the employees can now look to the future with optimism.

“The WOB-SKY workforce demonstrated remarkable stability, loyalty, and professionalism during a difficult time. Together with Oliver Barth, they made a significant contribution to enabling us to generate profits again through sales and rentals even during the ongoing insolvency proceedings.”

Schultze & Braun said WOB-SKY’s financial difficulties arose from challenging market environment in construction and real estate, which worsened due to rising material and raw material prices.

It said the financial difficulties were resolved using the instruments of insolvency and restructuring law, enabling the company to return to profitability.

“During the proceedings, we specifically adjusted the internal structures, thoroughly analyzed the business model, and derived the next steps from this analysis”, said Hartwig.

“WOB-SKY’s restructuring is a good example of the strengths that insolvency proceedings can offer.”

The Wittrock Group rents cranes, aerial work platforms and forklifts from 22 locations in Germany and through a network of Europe-wide partners. Its businesses include Hermann & Wittrock, Titschkus & Wittrock, Wittrock Trading and LiftProfi.