Bucyrus brand to go

12 July 2011

After receiving regulatory approval in the EU, China and the US, Caterpillar's US$ 8.8 billion acquisition of mining equipment manufacturer Bucyrus has completed.

The Bucyrus brand name will be dropped and the business will be integrated into Caterpillar's global mining division, which will be run by Caterpillar's group president, Steve Wunning. Bucyrus products will be distributed through Caterpillar's global dealership network.

Based in Wisconsin, US, the global mining business consists of three divisions - integrated manufacturing operations, which has facilities in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America, the mining sales and marketing division, which covers the global market, and the mining products division, which will be responsible for product design and development.

Caterpillar vice presidents Dave Bozeman and Chris Curfman will head up the integrated manufacturing operations division, and sales and marketing division respectively, while former Bucyrus chief operating officer Luis de Leon will head up the mining products division.

A new era

Mr Wunning said the completed deal marked "the beginning of a new era in Caterpillar's mining business". He said the deal would result in benefits such as lower product cost and improved service, driven by Caterpillar's global manufacturing, supply chain, dealership and purchasing capabilities.

Caterpillar said it expected the rapid development of the world's emerging markets to continue to drive demand for commodities. "This acquisition is all about growth and unprecedented opportunities," Mr Wunning said.

"Combined with our aggressive product development and capacity expansion plans, it will position Caterpillar to offer a broad range of surface and underground mining products and solutions to our customers."

When the acquisition was first announced in November last year, Caterpillar had expected to fund the deal through a combination of debt, cash and up to US$ 2 billion of new equity. However, the company said it issued US$ 4.5 billion of new debt to fund the acquisition, and had completed the deal without the need to issue equity. It said this was a result of its "excellent cash flow and increasingly strong balance sheet".