The South Tyrolean corporate group HTI is becoming the majority shareholder of HKD Snowmakers. HKD is a company specializing in snowmaking systems with branches in the USA and Canada.

This move further strengthens the presence of the HTI Group in the North American market. In the past financial year, HKD, with 80 employees, generated revenues of around 60 million dollars.

Strategic step for the HTI Group

This step is part of a strategy that in recent years has led to both geographical and thematic diversification of HTI Group’s activities.

In this context, a series of investments have been made in North America: from a production site in Utah to the acquisition of Jarraff (vegetation management) in Minnesota, to the expansion of Prinoth’s facilities in Granby, Canada, and Leitner Poma of America in Grand Junction, Colorado.

“HKD will operate like the other companies in our group and will maintain its autonomy and independence in order to respond efficiently and flexibly to the needs of its reference market. With decentralization and diversification, our group aims to achieve sustainable and long-term success, which makes it possible to secure jobs and create added value in the regions where we are present,” says Anton Seeber, President of HTI.

According to the HTI Group, investments in North America are particularly attractive because winter tourism in the USA is growing and the current political framework is favorable.

Expansion of HKD’s offering

Charles Santry, president and co-founder of HKD, emphasized that through the merger with HTI and the close collaboration with Demaclenko, the current product range will be completed, enabling the company to offer customers in North America the most diverse and reliable snowmaking technology currently available on the market.

HKD, a company with tradition

In 1973, Herman Kress Duprè (the company’s name is an acronym of his initials) developed the first snowmaking system in the mountains of the family resort Seven Springs in Pennsylvania. In the early 1990s, Herman’s son-in-law, Charles Santry, a trained geologist and environmental specialist, suggested marketing this innovative technology.

This was the origin of HKD Snowmakers, and the “HKD standard” was introduced in the industry, quickly becoming the effective snow lance used by North American ski resorts.

HKD continued to grow through acquisitions and in 2011 merged with the Canadian propeller manufacturer Turbocristal, integrating propeller technology into its product portfolio. Finally, in 2018, HKD acquired iSno, the controls and automation division of Sno-Matic in Lyme, based in New Hampshire.