Toromont to buy Quebec-based Hewitt heavy equipment business for $1.02 billion

The Canadian Press</span>
Published Monday, August 28, 2017 7:44AM EDT
Last Updated Monday, August 28, 2017 8:07AM EDT

TORONTO -- Industrial equipment company Toromont Industries Ltd. (TSX:TIH) has a friendly deal to buy the Quebec-based Hewitt Group for a combination of cash and shares worth about $1.02 billion.

The transaction will combine two of Canada's largest heavy equipment distributors and expand Toromont's network of Caterpillar dealerships.

Toronto-based Toromont says the acquisition of Hewitt, a private company based in the Montreal-area community of Pointe Claire, Que., will add 45 branches and 2,000 employees in Quebec and the Maritimes.

That will bring Toromont's total number of Caterpillar dealerships to 120, located in Canada's seven eastern provinces and the northern territory of Nunavut.

Toromont chief executive Scott Medhurst is expected to provide additional details during a conference call with analysts this morning.

Hewitt chief executive Jim Hewitt says the sale of the family-owned business founded by his father makes sense given the trend towards consolidation in the sectors where the company operates.

"The decision to sell the business founded 65 years ago by my father has not been an easy one, but is the outcome of much reflection on the part of my son David and me," Jim Hewitt said in a statement issued at the same time as Toromont's announcement.

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