Veri-Tek International Corp. (Bridgeville, Ill.), a North American manufacturer of engineered lifting equipment, announced today that it has completed the acquisition of the Noble Rough-Terrain Forklift business from GT Distribution. 

“We are very pleased to add the Noble Rough-Terrain Forklift business to our line of specialized lifting equipment,” said David J. Langevin, chairman and CEO of Veri-Tek International. 

“The Noble product line, was originally designed and marketed by Caterpillar in 1983, and was subsequently marketed through Eagle Pitcher’s dealer network. Noble has a reputation for providing durable, innovative and high quality products, and as a result, the Noble product has benefited from very strong distribution, and has a large installed base giving rise to a healthy after-market parts business. Moreover, this acquisition will benefit from our current operating manufacturing base and adds breadth to our existing Liftking rough terrain forklift product line without increasing our existing facilities or manpower."

As consideration for the assets of the Noble business, Veri-Tek will release GT Distribution from its pre-existing debt to Veri-Tek in the amount $4.2 million.