ThyssenKrupp Access Acquires National Wheel-O-Vator

Abbey Home Elevator, ThyssenKrupp Access and National Wheelovator all building business in the residential elevator marketplace.

Apr 17, 2008

ThyssenKrupp Access Acquires National Wheel-O-Vator

GRANDVIEW, MISSOURI, April 17, 2008 – ThyssenKrupp Access, a leading manufacturer of home elevators and accessibility equipment, has acquired The National Wheel-O-Vator Company
of Roanoke, Illinois.

“Combining the forces of ThyssenKrupp Access and National Wheel-O-Vator will give builders and consumers more choices to meet their accessibility and home elevation needs,” said Thomas Hance, President, ThyssenKrupp Access.“This move solidly positions the new entity as the largest and most comprehensive manufacturer of home elevators and accessibility equipment in North America.”

National Wheel-O-Vator, a privately owned company founded in 1982, generated in 2007 sales of US$ 42 million with currently 170 employees. The company has been manufacturing and selling residential elevators, wheelchair lifts and Limited Use/Limited Application (LU/LA) elevators though a network of independent dealers throughout the United States. Greg Harmon, co-owner and CEO of National Wheel-O-Vator, said, “This transaction fulfills our family’s vision of being a major player in the worldwide accessibility market.”

The ThyssenKrupp Group, based in Duesseldorf, Germany, is a global technology company which consists of five business segments – Steel, Stainless, Technologies, Elevator and Services. In fiscal 2006/2007 the company had annual sales of €51.7 billion ($68.7 billion) and employed approximately 191,000 in over 70 countries.