Versatile is expected to grow and expand under its new ownership, leadership says, as a Turkish firm takes over the majority stake of its parent company.
“One of the keys for us was making sure we found a partner that was committed to preserving the Versatile and Farm King brands,” said Adam Reid, VP of sales and marketing at Versatile.
“We wanted to make sure the viability of the plant here in Winnipeg and our staff was secure. And taking care of all of our stakeholders, the suppliers, shareholders.”
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In July, management at Buhler Industries, parent company of the Versatile and Farm King brands, revealed it had begun a search for a “long-term investment partner”. In late December it announced that Turkish tractor manufacturer Başak Traktör, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ASKO Holding, was buying 96.7 per cent of its outstanding shares for a reported CAD $60.5 million.
Başak Traktör presented what was described as the most “well rounded” proposal, which met their concerns.
“Başak Traktör, has several manufacturing facilities in Turkey,” said Reid. “They’re big in ag and construction equipment. They’re very passionate about that sector.”
“Sami Konukoglu, (chairman of ASKO Holding) is extremely passionate about manufacturing, particularly agricultural manufacturing,” Reid added. “He started on the factory floor and worked his way up. He has a vision for global expansion and sees Versatile as a key to that. He understands the power of the Versatile and Farm King brands… he’s focused on the growth and expansion of the company.”
Talks with Başak Traktör had been underway since early fall, according to Reid, who expects the deal will be finalized by the first week of January. All of the roughly 24 million ownership shares to be acquired by Başak Traktör belonged to Russian ag equipment manufacturer Rostselmash, which had been the majority owner until now.
Brands will continue, expand
Some of the brand’s dealers have expressed apprehension at the thought of a change of ownership and what that might mean for the brand. Senior management, including COO Grant Adolph along with Reid, will remain in their current roles under the new ownership structure to help maintain consistency during the transition and moving forward.
Reid says dealers and customers needn’t worry about the brand disappearing. Instead, he expects it to grow and expand under the new ownership.
Due to the supply chain disruptions in the last two years, Versatile has struggled to fill orders for new tractors, due to persistent component shortages. The new ownership will give the brand increased purchasing power and should help it ramp up the number of tractors rolling off the assembly line to better meet customer demand.
It could conceivably also result in an expanded product line for Versatile, whose tractor offerings only go up from 175 horsepower. Başak’s models conveniently run from 50 to 120, and it could make a good fit for brand expansion. Versatile has so far avoided the temptation to design smaller models to play in the lucrative and very large utility tractor segment, because of the large number of players already there. But with a ready line of models from Başak, that could change. All that, though, remains speculation at the moment.
Başak’s 5120 model, which was released in 2019, won an iF Design award. So the Turkish brand now produces models with features that could potentially appeal to North American buyers.
“There could be some synergy in the long run,” acknowledges Reid. “But at this point the focus is on Versatile and on the manufacturing here, and pushing for growth here.”
As for the assembly of Kubota M8 tractors at the Winnipeg plant, Reid says that will continue.
“This (ownership) change does not affect our current relationships,” he said. “I think what we’re excited about is the passion that Başak Traktör and ASKO Holding brings to the manufacturing side of our business. They’re very forward-looking and we’re excited about where we can go together.”
“I think this opens up a lot of opportunities for us going forward. Internally, the team is very exciting about what this means for securing the future of the Versatile brand.”
Russians out
While the deal brings a new partner on board with a global vision willing to advance the Versatile brand, it solves one other problem for Buhler: it ends the involvement of a Russian company in its ownership. That had been causing some trouble for Versatile due to the invasion of Ukraine.
“The nature of who our major shareholder was did create some concern in some of our suppliers,” said Reid. “Even though Buhler Industries as an entity operated independently and autonomously, there were concerns about the ties back to Russian ownership. So we’re very excited about what this change in ownership can do for us when it comes to our global partnerships with our suppliers.”
Since Russia attacked Ukraine, management at Buhler has had to take steps to publicly distance itself from its primary shareholder. In March of 2022, the board of directors announced it had removed Konstantin Babkin, who had been on Buhler’s board since Rostselmash acquired majority ownership of Buhler in 2007. He had been a vocal supporter of Vladimir Putin and Russia’s aggressive action in Ukraine. The Buhler board quickly and publicly denounced Babkin’s outspoken views, noting they didn’t reflect the values of the board overall or those of Buhler Industries.
However, the company remained under majority ownership by Rostselmash. And some Russian representatives remained on the board. With the Başak acquisition, all board members will have to resign and be replaced with those selected by the new owner.
