In a mid-march press release, AGCO announced that it has reached an agreement in principle to acquire the forage division of Lely Group. Lely’s forage division manufactures balers and loader wagons in Europe, primarily for that market. The deal is expected to close by the fourth quarter of 2017. However, it’s still subject to regulatory approval.
“The integration of Lely’s industry leading competence in hay and forage technology will further strengthen AGCO’s full line product offering,” said Martin Richenhagen, AGCO’s chairman, president and CEO, in the announcement.
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There was no further word on whether or not AGCO could incorporate any existing Lely products into its North American offering to compliment its existing Hesston haying equipment line.
Industry Quote:
“The (proposed U.S.) border adjustment tax would actually help us; we’re a significant net exporter. So on a Deere and Co. level it would be a positive. We’re very concerned, however, about our farmer customers. If as a result of the proposed tax it had an unintended consequence causing countries like China and Mexico to buy their ag commodities from other countries, that would be negative for U.S. farmers… I think, without a doubt, any form of protectionism or nationalism, on the whole, is not beneficial for any global company, like ours.” – Samuel Allen, CEO and chairman of Deere and Co., speaking on CNBC.
