Manitou Group Acquires French Lithium-ion Battery Provider easyLi
Manitou Group, a manufacturer of material handling, mobile elevating work platforms and earth moving equipment, has acquired an 82-percent stake in easyLi, a specialist in the design and production of lithium-ion batteries. This strategic transaction gives the Manitou Group specific skills in the context of its energy transition.
Founded in 2011, easyLi manufactures and maintains lithium-ion battery systems for electric mobility and stationary energy storage solutions. It has 25 employees and is based in the Poitiers ‒ Futuroscope business district in southwest France.
As a result of this acquisition, Manitou Group is extending its competence with business lines dedicated to research and development and the production and reconditioning of batteries.
“easyLi’s expertise adds substantial value to our organization,” said Michel Denis, president and CEO of Manitou Group. “By internalizing this expertise, we are going to be able to study machine-battery interactions in depth and thus continue to reduce total cost of ownership for our users. This operation is in keeping with our research and development plan to accelerate our energy transition.”
François Barsacq, founder and CEO of easyLi, added: “We are proud to be joining Manitou Group. It is a fantastic opportunity to share our know-how internationally on different ranges of handling products, while stepping up our activities on our historical markets of urban electric mobility, on board energy systems and self-sufficient environments. We look forward to accompanying Manitou Group in this new stage.”
easyLi was founded in France in 2011, specializing in the design and production of intelligent battery systems for urban mobility and self-sufficient professional equipment. The company also develops, manufactures and markets stationary energy storage solutions for private individuals, buildings and Smart Home and Smart City applications. easyLi is working toward a responsible energy transition by producing long-lasting storage solutions. Thus, easyLi offers post-warranty, through-life maintenance contracts to extend the service life of the batteries on customer fleets. In 2021, easyLi reported €1 million in revenue.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.