A chain of 24 Prairie equipment dealerships best known for sales of Case IH iron plans to expand into New Holland territory.
Calgary-based Rocky Mountain Dealerships, a publicly traded (TSX:RME) firm described as one of the biggest ag and construction equipment dealers in the country, has signed on to buy a New Holland dealership at Red Deer, Alta. for an undisclosed sum.
Roydale New Holland’s product lines include New Holland, Seed Hawk and Husqvarna farm equipment. The dealership reported about $22 million in revenues in its most recent fiscal year, Rocky Mountain said in a release.
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“This acquisition is the first New Holland agriculture dealership for Rocky Mountain and will be the cornerstone for expansion in a new agriculture product line,” the buyer said.
Expanding from Case to New Holland may not be the farthest stretch for a dealer network, as both are owned by the same parent, Chicago-based CNH Global, which is majority-owned by Italian automaker Fiat.
But Rocky Mountain is one of the biggest dealers in North America for Case, whose ag and construction lines make up about 65 per cent of the Calgary firm’s new equipment sales.
Roydale, whose current owners will remain with the dealership under its new management, covers a market area of central Alberta north of the company’s current agriculture locations.
The buyer said the deal “opens a new customer base to the Rocky Mountain group,” much of which is based in communities across southern Alberta.
The Roydale deal, expected to close March 1, is to be the 12th for Rocky Mountain since its initial public offering in December 2007.
Other equipment lines already sold through the Rocky Mountain chain include Claas, Kawasaki, Bourgault, Kobelco, Terex and Dynapac.
