WEST FARGO, N.D.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 13, 2012-- Titan Machinery Inc. (NASDAQ:TITN) announced today that it has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire a majority interest of Rimex, which consists of seven Case IH agriculture equipment dealership locations in the following cities in Bulgaria: Sofia, Dobrich, Burgas, Pleven, Ruse, Montana, and Stara Zagora. The acquisition is expected to close in March, 2012. David Meyer, Titan Machinery’s Chairman and CEO, said, “We are excited to expand our international presence with the acquisition of Rimex. This acquisition will enable us to leverage our operations in Eastern Europe following our recent expansion into Romania and further capitalize on the global agriculture economy to complement our core growth efforts in the Upper Midwest.” Bulgaria has a wealth of productive farmland and agriculture is a substantial part of its national economy. Rimex has been in operation since 1990 and began dealing products from the CNH portfolio in 1992. In its most recently reported fiscal year, the seven locations comprising the Rimex network generated revenue of approximately $37 million. Rimex will continue to be managed by its current management team, and the former owner will retain a minority interest in the company. Peter Christianson, Titan Machinery’s President and Chief Operating Officer, stated, “Over the past twenty years, the Rimex team has built a strong dealership network with strategic locations throughout Bulgaria and cultivated relationships with farmers all over the country. We look forward to working with Rimex’s team and applying the Titan Operating Model to the dealerships as we grow our international footprint. We are confident that these dealerships will contribute to our top and bottom line growth.” About Titan Machinery Inc. Titan Machinery Inc., founded in 1980 and headquartered in West Fargo, North Dakota, is a multi-unit business with mature locations and newly-acquired locations. The Company owns and operates a network of full service agricultural and construction equipment stores in the United States and Europe. Upon the closing of the Rimex acquisition, the Titan Machinery network will consist of 91 North American dealerships in North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Wyoming, Wisconsin, as well as 9 European dealerships in Romania and Bulgaria. The Titan Machinery dealerships represent one or more of the CNH Brands (NYSE: CNH), a majority-owned subsidiary of Fiat Industrial (Milan: FI.MI)), including Case IH, New Holland Agriculture, Case Construction, New Holland Construction, Kobelco and CNH Capital. Additional information about Titan Machinery Inc. can be found at www.titanmachinery.com. Forward Looking Statements Certain statements found in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements as defined by Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and include any statement that does not directly relate to a current or historical fact. Such statements are generally identifiable by the terminology used, such as "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "expect," "plan," or other similar words. Our forward-looking statements in this release generally relate to the benefits related to the Rimex acquisition, the anticipated closing of the acquisition and our national and international growth plans. Although it is not possible to foresee all of the factors that may cause actual results to differ from our forward-looking statements, such factors include, among others, the timely satisfaction of the considerations to closing the acquisition, integrating Rimex operations with Titan Machinery's existing network, our ability to execute on our national and international growth plans, our ability to implement our business model in non-U.S. markets, our ability to successfully operate under foreign government regulations, the effect of fluctuations in currency exchange rates, changes to tariffs and trade restrictions, changes to political or economic conditions in the markets in which we do business and those risks described from time to time in our reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Investors should not consider any list of such factors to be an exhaustive statement of all of the risks, uncertainties or potentially inaccurate assumptions that could cause our current expectations or beliefs to change. Stockholders and other readers should not place undue reliance on "forward-looking statements," as such statements speak only as of the date of this release. We undertake no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements.
Source: Titan Machinery Inc. ICR, Inc. John Mills, 310-954-1100 jmills@icrinc.com |