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Economy

Deere & Co. Completes Acquisition of Wirtgen Group

Now that agencies from more than 20 countries have approved it, Deere & Company has closed its biggest deal.

This morning, Deere announced it officially owns the Wirtgen Group, a German company that makes road construction equipment.

Michelle O'Neill reports.

Deere spokesman, Ken Golden, says the company bought Wirtgen for $5.2 billion to expand and strengthen its Construction and Forestry division.

Wirtgen employs 8,200 people and has factories in Germany, Brazil, China, and India. That doubles the size of the workforce in Construction and Forestry at Deere.

Golden says it's rare for Deere, or any company, to find another one to buy that has a similar culture of excellence and innovation, with no overlap in products.

The Wirtgen Group will enable Deere and Company to become to the world leader in road construction equipment. Deere retained all five of Wirtgen's existing brands, along with its employees and distribution network.

Economy
Officially, Michelle's title for 28 years was WVIK News Editor. She did everything there is to do in the newsroom and whatever was needed around the radio station. She also served as Acting News Director from September 2023 - January 2024.