Bobcat Sold to Korean Conglomerate

One of the best known American brand names has been transferred from a Bermuda-based holding company to a conglomerate based in South Korea.

Bermuda-based Ingersoll-Rand Co. Ltd. has announced an agreement to sell its Bobcat, Utility Equipment and Attachments business units to Doosan Infracore Co. Ltd. for approximately $4.9 billion. The sale is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2007.

The Bobcat business units make and sell compact equipment, including skid-steer loaders, compact track loaders, mini-excavators and telescopic tool handlers; portable air compressors, generators, and light towers; general-purpose light construction equipment; and attachments. The businesses employ approximately 5,700 people worldwide.

The Bobcat brand has deep roots in North Dakota, and the business units have manufacturing facilities in Gwinner and Bismarck, N.D., as well as in Carrollton, Ga.; Litchfield, Minn.; Petersburg, Va.; and overseas plants in China, the Czech Republic, France, Ireland; and the United Kingdom.

“We are pleased that the Bobcat, Utility Equipment and Attachments businesses will join a major global organization intent on expanding its participation across worldwide construction and related markets,” says Herbert L. Henkel, Ingersoll-Rand’s chairman, president and CEO. “The future of these businesses remains sound as strategically important operating units of Doosan.”

Doosan Infracore is part of the Doosan Group, one of South Korea’s 10 largest conglomerates, according to Bloomberg News. Doosan also bought Daewoo Heavy Industries and Machinery in 2005. Doosan Infracore has been building excavators and other heavy machinery for 70 years, primarily selling it into East Asian markets.