MANITOU, leader mondial de la manutention tout-terrain

MANITOU announces the launch of a friendly tender offer to acquire all shares of common stock of GEHL Company, a NASDAQ listed U.S. company headquartered in West Bend, Wisconsin.

MANITOU’s strategic acquisition is consistent with the Group’s growth plans in the U.S. and globally, and will enable MANITOU to:

• Establish global leadership in the rough terrain material handling equipment sector by building a presence in the U.S.;

• Strengthen its operations in both the construction and agriculture segments of the U.S. market, with equipment tailored for those market segments and sold through three separate distribution channels: GEHL, MUSTANG and MANITOU;

• Complement its offering of compact equipment with the addition of the mini skid loader product line, a segment in which GEHL is a global leader;

• Increase its production capacity in the United States to better position itself for U.S. dollar based transactions in global markets;

• Accelerate the Group’s global growth through the sharing resources and capacities.

The post-merger entity will greatly benefit from a combination of the two companies, due to their complementary nature, specifically with respect to product lines, expertise and geographic presence.

GEHL Company is a U.S. manufacturer of compact equipment used worldwide in construction and agricultural markets. Founded in 1859, the Company is headquartered in West Bend, Wisconsin. The Company markets its products under the GEHL ® and MUSTANG ® brand names. MUSTANG product information is available on the MUSTANG Manufacturing website (www.mustangmfg.com). CE Attachments, Inc. information is available at (www.ceattach.com). GEHL Company information is available at (www.gehl.com) or contact: GEHL Company, 143 Water Street, West Bend, WI 53095, USA (telephone: 262-334-9461).