Bigge sells big Liebherr

The Liebherr LR 1800 purchased at a Ritchie Bros. auction last year by Bigge Crane & Rigging has a new owner, ACT has learned.

Sarens Group, with headquarters in Belgium and 41 branches around the world, purchased the machine in late March 2007. In April, a Sarens field engineer traveled to San Leandro, CA to oversee the dismantling and shipping of the crane, according to a Bigge source.

One of the world's largest specialized transport and heavy lift companies, Sarens was listed as number six on the 2006 IC50 list of the largest crane owning companies in the world by ACT'ssister publication, International Cranes and Specialized Transport. Last year in that listing, Sarens reported its fleet included 636 mobile cranes and 175 crawler cranes, with its largest unit being a Demag PC 9600.

The sales price for the 2000 model 880 metric ton capacity Liebherr crawler was not revealed. Last year at the Ritchie Bros. auction the unit sold for approximately $3.7 million, it was reported.