Kubota Corp., based in Osaka, Japan, and parent company to Kubota U.S.A. has entered into an agreement to acquire Great Plains Manufacturing, headquartered in Salina, Kan. The purchase, once finalized, will expand the company’s long-standing partnership with Land Pride and will include all five Great Plains divisions with multiple facilities in Kansas and a manufacturing plant in Sleaford, U.K.
Since 2007, Kubota has worked with Land Pride to provide implements to Kubota dealers and customers in the United States and Canada.
“This acquisition aligns with our long-term strategic vision to continue our market expansion and provide high quality products and comprehensive solutions for our customers,” said Masato Yoshikawa, president and CEO of Kubota Tractor Corp.
For the immediate future, the Great Plains divisions will continue to operate as they have been with their infrastructure intact.
“Once final, this acquisition is going to lead to great advancements for both businesses without being a significant change for our people,” said Todd Stucke, senior vice president of sales, marketing and product support for Kubota. “We intend to respect the distinctiveness of the brands, trademarks and operational strengths. Doing so will allow employees, dealers and customers to do business with the same great companies they have come to know and trust.”
Great Plains founder and chairman Roy Applequist will remain on the leadership team to help facilitate the transition. Linda Salem, president of Great Plains Manufacturing will work with Applequist in overseeing and managing the transaction.
“I’ve worked alongside Roy for 26 years and I intend to carry forward the entrepreneurial and successful legacy that he has created at Great Plains,” Salem said. “I’ve also worked collaboratively with Kubota for over 10 years, which has allowed us to create a foundation for a strong working relationship that we will continue to build as we work forward.”
The partnership expands Kubota’s presence in Kansas where the company recently established its North American Distribution Center in Edgerton, which serves as the primary distribution hub for Kubota parts and whole goods distribution in the United States and Canada.
Kubota Tractor Corp. has U.S. headquarters in Torrance, Calif.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.