In a surprise development which has not been widely reported outside of Sweden, CNH has divested itself of its Overum plough business to the German investment company FairCap.
In a statement issued on the April 15, CNH noted that it has finalised the sale of the agricultural plough business to FairCap.
The transaction includes the factory – employing 70 staff, the intellectual property and inventory relating to the product line.
The statement goes on to note that Overum is a subsidiary of Kongskilde, a brand which was acquired by CNH in 2017.
The reason given for the sale by CNH is that it intends to fully focus on the research and development, manufacturing and sales efforts for its core product portfolio and growth of its in-house tech stack.
Who is FairCap?
CNH has not sold the plough business to a competing agricultural machinery company, instead, it has chosen a German-based investment company which describes itself as:
An entrepreneurial investment company with locations in Munich, Milan and London, which acquires medium-sized companies in special situations (transformation, carve-out, MBO, MBI) and develops them holistically – taking financial, ecological and social aspects into account.
One Swedish newspaper that carried the story, noted that the company may return to the Overum name and livery, suggesting that the factory will once again hold the autonomy it enjoyed before being absorbed by Kongskilde and then CNH.
FairCap itself does nothing to dispel this hope, noting that it is “thrilled to welcome Overum to the Faircap family and are convinced that Överum, as a stand-alone company, can realize its full potential”.
However, it is not clear yet as to whether CNH will continue to source ploughs from Overum or whether it is intended that the company re-establishes its own distribution network.
Presently, the Kongskilde website is still showing Overum as part of its business, and CNH were unable to give an exact date of when the sale will be completed and the brand regain its independence.
Surprise move by CNH
The sale may come as a shock to many in the trade, as CNH has been taking steps to promote New Holland as a full line company with New Holland Agriculture President, Carlo Lambro, expressing a desire to see NH dealerships in North America drop competing equipment brands.
Whether such a tactic would work over here is open to doubt, as European machinery companies have invested large sums in producing sophisticated implements that would be difficult for any one corporation to match, although CNH already has a proud history in balers and harvesting equipment.