November 5, 2007
Caterpillar Announces Acquisition of Blount’s Forestry Division and
Transition of Pioneer Machinery to Six Caterpillar Dealers
Two deals strengthen Caterpillar’s position in forestry industry
PEORIA, Ill. – Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) and Blount International, Inc. (NYSE: BLT) announced today that Caterpillar is acquiring the assets of Blount’s Forestry Division.
Expanding Manufacturing Operations
Under the agreement between Caterpillar and Blount, Caterpillar will acquire two Blount manufacturing facilities - a sales office and a service parts warehouse and product support operation in North America as well as an assembly operation in Sweden. These operations will join Caterpillar's global facilities that produce and support forestry equipment.
Since 2003, Caterpillar and Blount have had an agreement to jointly produce and market products globally under the Caterpillar and former Timberking brands.
"Caterpillar and Blount have worked closely together since our initial agreement, leveraging Caterpillar’s unmatched worldwide distribution and long forestry heritage with Blount’s legacy of product excellence," said John Heller, Caterpillar vice president with responsibility for forestry. "This acquisition will provide greater opportunities for integrating Caterpillar’s state-of-the-art design and components into the forestry products that previously have been manufactured by Blount."
"Caterpillar recognizes the value of our experienced workforce and our long history of market-leading products," said Dennis Eagan, president of Blount’s Industrial and Power Equipment Group. "Our dealers and customers can expect a smooth transition of ownership and will be well served by Caterpillar."
In 2006, Caterpillar permitted Blount to replace the Timberking brand of forestry products with the Caterpillar and Cat brands. The Timberking line included products manufactured by both Caterpillar and Blount and sold exclusively through Caterpillar dealers. The acquisition of
Blount’s operations will bring all product design, development and manufacturing under Caterpillar.
"This acquisition supports our corporate objective to be the forestry market leader," said John Carpenter,
president of Caterpillar Forest Products. "Cat Forest Products now offers the broadest product line in the industry
with a full range of products and services for logging, millyard, roadbuilding and land management.
In addition to better serving the needs of our traditional forestry customers, this acquisition will also
enable Caterpillar to meet the increasing global demand for wood-based alternative fuels such as cellulosic ethanol."
Cat Forest Products is headquartered in LaGrange, Georgia, where it manufactures wheel skidders, felling heads and track feller bunchers. Other Caterpillar plants in the Americas, Asia and Europe continue to produce forest swing machines, excavators, wheel loaders and other machines working in forests throughout the world. In addition, Caterpillar operates the Caterpillar Forest Product Training Center in Alabama—home of Forest Pro University—which supports the training, safety awareness and product demonstration needs of dealers, customers, associations and universities.
For more than 80 years, Caterpillar Inc. has been making progress possible and driving positive and sustainable change on every continent. With 2006 sales and revenues of $41.517 billion, Caterpillar is the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines. The company also is a leading services provider through Caterpillar Financial Services, Caterpillar Remanufacturing Services, Caterpillar Logistics Services and Progress Rail Services.