Producer
Columbus McKinnon (Magnetek)
Columbus McKinnon acquired Magnetek in 2015. Magnetek (IMPULSE series VFDs) is the self-described "leading manufacturer of drives for the hoist and crane industry" in North America. Focus: industrial overhead cranes and hoists. New IMPULSE G+/VG+ Series 5 launched January 2024. Note: Yaskawa directs crane/hoist customers to Magnetek, indicating a partnership rather than direct competition. Less relevant to large port cranes (STS/RTG); primary market is manufacturing facility overhead cranes.
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Industrial Hoists and Lifting
45%Entertainment Rigging (CM-ET / CM Lodestar)
8%Rigging Hardware and Offshore Marine
20%Motion Control and Drives (Magnetek)
12%Precision Conveyance (Dorner)
15%
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Did you know2024
The CM Lodestar electric chain motor — introduced in 1955 — is the dominant standard for professional entertainment rigging: every major arena concert tour's speaker clusters, lighting rigs, and flying set pieces are suspended and moved by CM Lodestar motors. Columbus McKinnon's entertainment brand (CM-ET) explicitly markets to "world touring rock concerts, Broadway musicals, and Las Vegas shows" and operates the CM-ET Riggers Forum as the professional rigging community. The chain hoist company that has made industrial lifting equipment since 1875 controls the physical infrastructure that makes large-scale live entertainment physically possible. Every time a speaker array rises over an arena crowd or a chandelier descends on a Broadway stage, the mechanism is almost certainly a CM Lodestar.
Columbus McKinnon ↗Origin2026
Columbus McKinnon was founded in 1875 in Buffalo, New York as a maker of forged hooks and chain. In 1955, it introduced the CM Lodestar electric chain motor, which became the concert touring standard — a commodity hoist that redefined theatrical and entertainment rigging. The company has since grown through serial acquisitions into the world's largest pure-play lifting and motion control company: STAHL CraneSystems ($240M, 2017, explosion-proof hoists), Dorner ($485M, 2021, precision conveyors), and Kito Crosby ($2.7B, February 2026, combining Kito hoists, Crosby rigging hardware, Gunnebo marine chain, and Peerless). Post-acquisition FY2026 combined revenue is approximately $2.1B with a 23%+ target EBITDA margin — a 150-year-old chain company is now the world's largest intelligent lifting and motion control platform.
PR Newswire ↗