Toromont Industries Ltd. has completed its previously announced acquisition of the businesses and net operating assets of the Hewitt Group of companies, making Toromont one of the world’s largest Caterpillar dealerships.
"We thank Jim Hewitt and his team for the tremendous collaborative effort demonstrated to complete this very significant acquisition for Toromont," said Scott Medhurst, Toromont president and CEO. "We are also appreciative of the confidence Caterpillar has placed in Toromont to build upon the strong foundation of both companies. We are honored to take stewardship of an organization forged over successive generations by dedicated team members. We welcome our new employees to Toromont and look forward to building on the Hewitt legacy."
The Equipment Group includes one of the larger Caterpillar dealerships by revenue and geographic territory - spanning the Canadian provinces of Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Québec, Ontario and Manitoba in addition to most of the territory of Nunavut. In addition, the Group includes industry leading rental operations, a complementary material handling business and an agricultural equipment business. Its Battlefield Equipment Rental is No. 18 on the RER 100 with 2016 rental revenue of CDN $161 million. With the addition of Hewitt’s rental division, the combined rental companies will be significantly larger.
Hewitt Equipment was authorized Caterpillar dealer for Quebec, Western Labrador and the Maritimes, based in Pointe-Claire, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal. The purchase price was close to CDN $1.02 billion.
Toromont’s Caterpillar dealership now operate 120 branches in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nunavut, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland & Labrador, giving the company one of the largest sales territories in the Caterpillar dealer network
“The acquisition delivers a substantial growth opportunity, allowing us to expand into the significant Quebec, Western Labrador and Maritime markets, and strengthens our expertise in the mining, construction, power systems and forestry sectors,” said Scott Medhurst, Toromont president and CEO.
“The acquisition is the largest in our 56-year history and is only possible because of the strength of our balance sheet and proven track record as a disciplined operator focused on generating steady growth across each of our core markets,” said Medhurst when the acquisition was announced.
Quebec recently disclosed plans to spend $91 billion on infrastructure during the next 10 years. Of $9.6 billion in capital to be spent this year, about 22 percent is slated for road construction. Also the mining industry is rebounding in the province, which has large reserves of copper, zinc, nickel and iron ore.
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.