Rocky Mountain Equipment acquires Chabot Implements for $6.8 million

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New-RME-Location-Mar-11

By Ken Waddell

The Neepawa Banner

Rocky Mountain Equipment has purchased the Chabot Implements dealerships, a Manitoba-based dealer of Case IH agriculture equipment with locations in Portage La Prairie, Steinbach and Elie. Chabot also sells Kubota equipment through its Neepawa location. 

 

Rocky Mountain Equipment Neepawa manager, Shawn Compton referred media inquires to Manitoba-Saskatchewan general manager Marty Cook. Cook said in an interview with the Neepawa Banner that the deal places RME in a good position for the company and for customers. “RME owns all the Case IH dealers except the one at Winnipeg. The purchase is good for marketing and moving equipment from one dealer to another. It’s good for the customers.”

It’s expected that the new RME building at Neepawa, soon to be opened in Neepawa’s industrial park east of town, will absorb the operation of Chabot Implements in Neepawa. The Neepawa location sells Kubota equipment and many other short lines of farm equipment. Cook said, “The new RME building is the newest and one of the biggest in Manitoba.”

Compton said they hope to move into the new facilities by April 1.

As of press deadline, a call was expected from Gilles Chabot, owner of Chabot Implements.

On its web site Rocky Mountain Equipment announced on March 10 that it has, through a subsidiary, entered into an agreement to purchase 100 per cent of the issued and outstanding shares of the entities forming Chabot Implements (“Chabot”) for purchase consideration of $6.8 million

For its most recent fiscal year ending December 31, 2014, Chabot had consolidated top-line revenues of approximately $68 million. This acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close effective April 1, 2015. Rocky intends to fund the acquisition through existing cash and credit facilities. 

Commenting on this acquisition, Garrett Ganden, Rocky’s President and CEO, stated, “The acquisition of Chabot represents a significant achievement for Rocky and will be immediately accretive to earnings. Chabot has a long-standing, proud heritage as a premier equipment dealer in Manitoba, having been established nearly 80 years ago. They enjoy a significant sales and service territory, customer base, and this acquisition allows us to more fully consolidate our Case IH distribution in Manitoba. Adding these locations to our existing Case IH distribution network will allow us to leverage our strengths as a dependable equipment partner to our customers, as we work to further enhance the market penetration of our Case IH offerings in the Manitoba region. This acquisition also illustrates our continued intention to execute on our strategy of consolidating independent CNH dealers in the Canadian Prairies, where we continue to see opportunity.”