Deere & Company has signed a “definitive agreement” to acquire King Agro – a privately-held manufacturer of carbon fibre technology products with headquarters in Valencia, Spain and a production facility in Campana, Argentina.
“This transaction provides John Deere customers with the chance to benefit further from King Agro’s unique knowledge, designs and expertise in carbon fibre technology,” said John May, John Deere’s president, agricultural solutions and chief information officer.
Back in 2015, John Deere and King Agro agreed to develop and distribute carbon fibre booms for John Deere spray application equipment. According to John Deere, this offered growers “the significant advantages of carbon fibre’s versatility, strength and durability in self-propelled sprayers“.
May said the transaction will provide benefits in sharing best practices in product development, manufacturing, technology and scale, as King Agro “builds on a history of innovation”.
Up to now, King Agro has been a family-owned business. It has approximately 180 employees and a 30-year history of developing various carbon fibre products. In agriculture, the company has targeted designs intended to “improve productivity and lower costs”.
After the deal, King Agro will retain its brand-name, trademark and existing commercial relationships.
Separate Italian deal
In June of last year (2017), John Deere announced the acquisition of Mazzotti – a privately-held sprayer company based in Ravenna, Italy.
Specialising in self-propelled sprayers, Mazzotti manufactured its first self-propelled machine in 1987 and quickly became the market leader in Italy with an 85% market share nationally.
Also Read: John Deere snaps up Italian sprayer manufacturerMazzotti has distributors in the Netherlands, Spain and the Czech Republic. The Italian company is known for its own self-propelled equipment, as well as making skid units for other manufacturers – such as the Vicon iXdrive sprayer.
