FCC

Ferronordic acquires Volvo CE's largest US dealer

2023-12-04

Ferronordic, a Volvo Construction Equipment dealer with 28 locations in Germany and Kazakhstan, is expanding into the U.S. market with its purchase of Rudd Equipment Company.

The $95 million deal is expected to close on November 30. In addition to the equipment business, Ferronordic will purchase two properties in Cincinnati and Louisville that Rudd currently rents for $10 million. After this, Rudd will own 8 of the 13 locations used to operate the business.

Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Rudd is one of the largest Volvo CE distributors in the U.S. Its 13 locations and 360 employees serve customers in all or parts of Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee and Maryland.

According to the announcement, Rudd had sales of $308.3 million with an operating income of $16.5 million and earnings before tax of $16.4 million in 2022. In addition to Volvo CE, Rudd sells and services Hitachi, Sandvik and Link-Belt.

The new owner does not intend to change the current business structure and has committed to retaining all employees under their current terms and conditions for at least 12 months. Upon closing, Rudd will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Ferronordic AB.

Commenting on the acquisition, Lars Corneliusson, Ferronordic's CEO, said: "This is a transformational transaction for us. We have been looking for opportunities to expand geographically in different regions, mainly in developed markets. The U.S. is the world's second-largest market for construction equipment with substantive infrastructure investment programmes that are likely to support strong demand going forward.”