Acquisition · Farm technology (self-steering)
Kubota buys Kansas-based auto-steering maker AgJunction for about $73 million
- Buyer
- Kubota (Osaka)
- Target
- AgJunction, Hiawatha, Kansas
- Value
- C$91M equity value (about $72.8M), C$0.75 a share
- Status
- Completed in December 2021.
- Date
- 2021-10-07
Kubota agreed to buy AgJunction, a Toronto-listed company based in Hiawatha, Kansas, that makes GPS-guided steering systems for tractors and other farm machines. Kubota offered C$0.75 a share in cash, about 60% above the last trading price, valuing the company at about C$91 million (about $72.8 million).
Why it matters
Owning AgJunction brought auto-steering and self-driving know-how in-house as Kubota pushes into precision farming in North America.
From rival to owner
In 2019 AgJunction had sued Kubota and several of its units in federal court in Georgia, claiming Kubota products infringed three AgJunction patents on automated machine control and implement steering. The two companies also had an existing business relationship, which AgJunction's board cited in backing the sale.
Why AgJunction sold
AgJunction's board had run a confidential review of options with Piper Sandler as adviser. It said farm automation needed tighter links with tractor makers and large-scale distribution, and that slow adoption during COVID-19 and limited access to capital made a sale the best path. The deal was done under an Alberta plan of arrangement.
Sources
Kakehashi M&A News home
