A new entry in the market?

OhioTC18

Well-known member
Gold Site Supporter
From the Bobcat Media Center............

In a move intended to expand its No. 1 market position in compact equipment, Bobcat Company announced today that it has signed a long-term strategic agreement with a highly respected Korean manufacturer, Daedong Industrial Co. Ltd., to produce a line of Bobcat-branded compact utility tractors.

“This alliance brings together the strengths of two respected and recognized companies,” said David Rowles, president of Bobcat Americas. “By combining the Bobcat global brand, dealer network and service with Daedong’s commitment to compact tractor design and technology, we can provide our customers with the quality compact equipment experience they’ve come to expect from Bobcat. We plan to start offering compact utility tractors to customers later this year.”

“Daedong is very pleased to have entered into this agreement with Bobcat Company,” said Jun-Sik Kim, president of Daedong. “We, as a company, look forward to building on our strengths by providing Bobcat customers with quality, affordable tractors with marketplace staying power through this alliance.” Daedong has produced compact equipment products for the past 60 years.

“This compact utility tractor line will complement our current Bobcat compact equipment lineup, which includes skid-steer, compact track, all-wheel steer and mini track loaders, compact excavators, telescopic tool carriers, utility vehicles, utility work machines and job-matched attachments,” said Bruce Collins, vice president of attachments and vehicles for Bobcat Company.

“The quality of the Daedong product line is well recognized by customers as world-class,” said Seong-Ki Kim, chief of the international business division for Daedong. “Bobcat and Daedong will achieve high synergy in this business collaboration.”

In evaluating this market, Bobcat did extensive voice-of-customer and voice-of-dealer work to validate specific compact utility tractor features. The Bobcat project team worked with a team from Daedong to create a compact utility tractor that meets Bobcat-brand expectations.

Nearly 50 years ago, Bobcat introduced a compact front-end loader that became the world’s first skid-steer loader, later adopting the familiar “Bobcat” brand. Bobcat Company leads the world in the design, manufacture and distribution of compact equipment, with more than 4,000 employees in plants and offices around the globe.
 

OhioTC18

Well-known member
Gold Site Supporter
Doosan Infracore Co., South Korea's largest maker of construction machinery, agreed to buy Ingersoll-Rand Co.'s Bobcat and other earth-moving equipment units for $4.9 billion in the country's biggest overseas acquisition.

The combined businesses had about $2.6 billion in sales last year and make small loaders, excavators and forklifts, Incheon-based Doosan Infracore said in an e-mailed statement today. Shares of the company closed at a record high.

Doosan Infracore will pay 1.9 times sales, compared with a value of 1.2 times for Caterpillar Inc., the world's biggest maker of earthmoving machinery. Ingersoll-Rand, based in Hamilton, Bermuda, sold the units to focus on its operations which make products including Thermo King refrigerated trucks and Club Car golf carts.

``The acquisition will help Doosan Infracore become a more globalized company with a worldwide network,'' said Song Jae Hak, an analyst at Woori Investment & Securities Co. in Seoul.

The purchase is the second biggest in the industry behind last year's 4 billion-euro ($5.5 billion) acquisition of the Kion Group, a maker of forklifts, by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., according to Bloomberg data.

Doosan Infracore, which is setting up a company with Doosan Engine Co. to lead the acquisition, will raise $700 million and the new company will borrow the rest and repay the loans from its cash flow, the buyer said. The company is part of Doosan Group, which gets $15 billion in annual sales building power stations and engines, operating restaurants and publishing GQ magazine in South Korea.

 

Doc

Admin
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Good post Jerry. This move should be good for both companies. Bobcat has a GREAT reputation and I'm sure they will grow it further in the CUT market.

ps. I see the whole message did not fit in one post. I'll make the max post size a tad bigger to accommodate posts like this. :eek:
 

OhioTC18

Well-known member
Gold Site Supporter
Doc,
Actually I posted in two separate posts. It was a result of finding some info, posting, then finding more a few minutes later.
 
J

JayC

Guest
It's an interesting partnership and acquisition, that's for sure. I've heard the rumor of a possible sale of Bobcat for about a year or more. Will be interesting to see what happens. It makes me wonder if the tractors made by Daedong will have styling and/or features distinctive to the Bobcat brand or if they will just be white/red versions of what they make already. Will definitely open new possibilities to those interested in the Kioti brand but with no dealers nearby (assuming they are white/red versions of the same Kioti). If I were in the market for a CUT, it would sure open a possibility to look at the brand since there is a Bobcat dealer only about 20 miles away whereas the nearest Kioti dealer is about 93 miles away.
 
Top