Hermans Heftrucks and Heylen Group strengthen their position with the acquisition of Allift Michielsens

Lieve Michielsens, daughter of the founder and former owner of Allift Michielsens, ran the company for almost 35 years together with her husband Eric Verbeelen and looks back with gratitude: “I would like to thank our staff, customers and suppliers for their loyal commitment. Thanks to the partnership with Hermans Heftrucks, we are now ready to further strengthen our position in and around the port of Antwerp.”

For Hermans Heftrucks, the partnership with Allift Michielsens opens doors to a wider range of products and services. “Think of the extensive rental range of telehandlers, forklifts, scissor lifts and aerial work platforms,” explains Geert Hermans, Rental Manager at Hermans Heftrucks.

Jonas Van de Venster, managing director at Allift Michielsens, continues: “We look forward to working with Allift Michielsens’ existing customers, who now have access to our wide sales range of new and used machines. Both existing and new customers can count on continuity of maintenance services, the high quality they are used to and, from now on, the strength of the Hermans Heftrucks team.”

Dennis Renders, CEO of Hermans Heftrucks, sums it up: “The complementary nature of our core business and the rental range, the many years of experience of both companies and the shared quality standards and family values are the pillars of this promising partnership.” Dennis also points to the potential to bring a breath of fresh air to a company that has been around since 1990.

The parties wish to keep the financial details of the acquisition confidential.

About Hermans Heftrucks

Hermans Heftrucks was founded in 1962 by Victor Hermans. In the early years, the focus was on the equestrian sector and agriculture. From the 1980s onwards, the range offered by the company, which the children had by then taken over from their father, who died young, evolved to include milking machines, tractors, mowers and compact tractors. In the 1990s, the Hermans family began to focus increasingly on forklift trucks. The move to the current location on the Beersebaan in Rijkevorsel marked the breakthrough of Hermans Heftrucks as a specialist in the sale and rental of lifting equipment for the industrial sector. To steer this growth in the right direction, Dennis Renders, who had been working at Hermans Heftrucks since 2012, was appointed managing director in 2019.