CIM Group, the French supplier of depot equipment plus track and rolling-stock components, has bought Sheffield-based Mechan, which manufactures lifting and handling systems (www.cimgroupe.com).

Announcing the deal on 2 March, CIM Group CEO Alain Lovambac said: “Mechan is a particularly innovative and successful company that supplies a range of high-quality products complementary to our own.

“This acquisition strengthens our ambition to become the world’s leading group in the design and supply of turn-key railway-workshop solutions.”

Mechan managing director Richard Carr said that joining CIM is “an excellent opportunity to accelerate our international development.

“Mechan is becoming part of an ambitious programme managed by a group that has demonstrated its dynamism through its consistent growth.”