The Toro Company completes acquisition of Charles Machine Works

The Toro Company (NYSE: TTC) announced that it has successfully completed its acquisition of privately held The Charles Machine Works, Inc., an Oklahoma corporation and the parent company of Ditch Witch and other leading brands in the underground construction market.

Charles Machine Works designs, manufactures and sells a range of products to cover the full life-cycle of underground pipe and cable, including horizontal directional drills, walk and ride trenchers, utility loaders, vacuum excavators, asset locators, pipe rehabilitation solutions and after-market tools. The acquisition brings together Toro’s portfolio of leading brands with Charles Machine Works’ deep understanding of the structures and systems that move resources across the globe, and the most important needs of underground construction professionals.

“We’re excited to welcome the men and women of Charles Machine Works to our team,” said Richard M. Olson, Toro’s chairman and chief executive officer. “As an organization, our strategic priorities of profitable growth, operational excellence and empowering people are well aligned. We are confident that together, we will further strengthen our portfolio of market-leading brands, with a focus on our customers, a commitment to innovation and leveraging our best-in-class channel networks. I am very optimistic about the momentum our combined strengths, talents and resources will generate in the future, as we continue our focus on long-term value creation for all of our stakeholders.”

The purchase price was approximately $700 million, which was financed with new debt and borrowing under Toro’s existing credit facility. The transaction, originally announced February 15, 2019, is immediately accretive to EPS, excluding purchase accounting adjustments and transaction-related expenses. As previously communicated, the company expects to realize synergies of about $30 million over a three-year period following the close. In addition, there are also revenue synergies and working capital improvements anticipated over time.

The company expects to provide updated full-year guidance when it reports its fiscal 2019 second quarter results.