Barloworld Equipment South Africa’s recent acquisition of a 20% stake in the Optron Group strengthens its relationship with its strategic partners and holds the promise of growth that will benefit customers and other stakeholders, says Charl Groenewald, Barloworld Equipment Divisional Executive Director, Customer Support.
“We are delighted that this acquisition positions us so well to create value that will be shared among our range of stakeholders in line with our overall long-term strategy,” says Groenewald. “We applaud the achievements to date of Optron’s current management. We support them strongly and believe it is important that they should continue to have a substantial stake and say in how Optron will develop.”
Says Trevor Venter, CEO of Optron Group (PTY) Ltd, “We are very excited to have Barloworld onboard as a strategic partner and look forward to working with one of South Africa’s giants of industry. We will work hard to ensure that our partnership with Barloworld translates into tangible benefits to our customers in the mining, construction, agriculture and logistics markets”.
Optron is an entrepreneurial technology company which represents leading technology-solution brands such as Trimble, an American US publically traded company (NASDAQ: TRMB) with a direct presence in over 35 countries and through dealers in over 125 countries. Internationally, Trimble has a solid joint venture with Barloworld Equipment Southern Africa’s long-established strategic partner, Caterpillar.
“Our investment in Optron will give Barloworld Equipment Southern Africa access to new technologies as they come to market,” Groenewald says. “We also believe that this investment will enable us to enhance our existing product offering.”
The Barloworld Equipment board sees this acquisition as a good fit given that Optron supplies and supports its technology solutions which consists of software, hardware and services in similar industries from construction and agriculture to transportation and logistics. In addition, Optron’s dealership model is very similar to the Cat dealership model with which Barloworld Equipment has long been familiar.
“We see this new alliance generating considerable synergies in various segments of our businesses,” says Groenewald. “Optron is a medium-sized company with significant growth prospects.
Barloworld Equipment Southern Africa sees its stake in Optron as a natural development given its strategic partnership of nearly 90 years with Caterpillar.
“This alliance is a good fit for us,” says Groenewald. “We believe that we share a similar business outlook with Optron’s controlling shareholders and management team. We are confident that they are people we can work with into the future, generating a good return on investment and enhancing the benefits we offer our customers in the mining, construction, agriculture and logistics markets.”
