FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's Kion (>> Kion Group AG) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (>> Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd) are in talks to buy Japanese forklift truck maker UniCarriers for up to 100 billion yen (564 million pounds), a source familiar with the matter said, confirming a Nikkei report.

UniCarriers is strong in Japan and in the United States where Kion, which has been steadily growing through acquisitions over the past years, has only a small presence.

It made sales of 175 billion yen in fiscal 2013.

Kion, the world's biggest forklift truckmaker after Toyota Industries (>> TOYOTA INDUSTRIES CORPORATION), is strong in Europe, China and South America and in the premium segment of the forklift truck market, while UniCarriers is stronger in mass-market forklifts.

A spokesman for Kion declined to comment on the report.

Kion owns brands including Linde, Still and Baoli as a result of its takeovers, and allows the companies it buys to keep their own identity in a so-called multibrand strategy.

Shares in Kion were up 0.4 percent to 38.60 euros by 9:30 a.m.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; editing by Thomas Atkins)