Caterpillar’s dealer for Quebec and the Maritime provinces is set to sell its Quebec farm equipment business to a chain of Agco dealerships.
Hewitt Equipment — the authorized Cat dealer for Quebec and western Labrador and, through its Atlantic Tractors and Equipment arm, for the Maritimes — announced recently it will sell its ag division to Groupe Symac for an undisclosed sum.
Symac — which is co-owned by La Coop Comax and La Coop Parisville and operates dealerships at St-Denis-sur-Richelieu, St-Hyacinthe, Parisville, St-Bruno and Normandin — will get Hewitt’s Rougemont, Napierville and Pont-Rouge dealerships.
Symac said it will continue its distribution of Agco brands, including Massey Ferguson, Challenger, Fendt, White and Sunflower. However, the expanded chain will no longer handle Claas combines or forage harvesters, nor “several other” shortline brands.
Representation for Claas and the shortline brands is to be “transitioned” to new dealers, yet to be appointed, Hewitt and Symac said.
A team of Hewitt and Symac staff is now working “to ensure a smooth transition aimed at assuring that our customers’ needs continue to be met with little or no disruption to their operations,” Hewitt CEO Jim Hewitt said in the company’s release.
Hewitt chief operating officer Stephane Guerin said the company will still serve farming customers in the market for Cat products such as skid steers, backhoes, lift trucks, tractors, hydraulic excavators, generators and vocational trucks.
Moving the ag business to Symac follows an “in-depth review” of Hewitt’s direction and “assessment of the added value” the company can bring to farming customers, the company said.
Pointe-Claire-based Hewitt said it sought a partner who’s “more closely aligned with and focused on the industry’s needs related to specialized equipment designed solely for or primarily for agricultural applications.” — AGCanada.com Network
