Komatsu is expanding its line of forestry equipment with the acquisition of the Quadco and Southstar forestry attachment operations from Prenbec Equipment Inc. of Quebec. The deal excludes the forestry equipment businesses of Tanguay and Forespro delimbers.
The acquisition will be made through a wholly owned subsidiary of Komatsu in the United States and is expected to close in February 2018, subject to completion of the closing conditions.
By adding the Quadco felling heads and Southstar large harvester heads to the existing lines of Log Max and Komatsu small and medium-sized harvester heads, Komatsu will become an industry leader in forestry attachments. This will allow Komatsu to offer its customers a full range of forestry attachments.
Quadco and Southstar will continue to operate as independent companies within the Komatsu group and will maintain their existing sales networks. In order to offer improved value to customers, a forestry attachment division within Komatsu Forest AB will be formed, which will manage the Quadco, Southstar, and Log Max brands.A statement from Komatsu explains that forestry attachments are generally classified into two categories: the cut to length (CTL) method, which involves the use of a harvester and forwarder and is popular in Europe, and the full tree length (FTL) logging method, which involves the use of a felling head attached to a base-machine and a skidder, which is popular in North America.
The global market for forestry machines, including forestry attachments, is continuing to grow at a rapid rate. Komatsu says it is anticipated that there will be particular growth in the North American market, where FTL is the dominant method.