(By Balaseshan) Titan Machinery Inc. (NASDAQ: TITN) said it has agreed with VAIT D.o.o. to acquire a CaseIH dealership in the Vojvodina region of Serbia.
In its most recently reported fiscal year, the CaseIH dealership being acquired reported revenue of about $8.5 million. Serbia is contiguous to Romania and Bulgaria, where Titan Machinery's other international dealerships are located.
Serbia is rich in productive farmland, and agriculture represents approximately 11% of its total gross domestic product, while the agricultural industry employs 26% of the Serbian population. The country's primary crops are wheat, corn, soybeans, sunflowers, and sugar beets.
"We are excited to expand our Eastern European operations into Serbia. This acquisition will enable us to further leverage our expanding dealership network in the region, which is strategically located near our existing dealerships in Romania and Bulgaria," said David Meyer, Titan Machinery's Chairman and CEO.
Titan Machinery said it continues to see selective international expansion as a growth platform to complement the company's core business in the Upper Midwest. The acquisition is expected to close on or around December 14, 2012.
Upon the closing of the Serbian acquisition, the Titan Machinery network consists of 104 North American dealerships in North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Wyoming, Wisconsin, Colorado, and Arizona, including two outlet stores, and 13 European dealerships in Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia.
Titan Machinery owns and operates a network of agricultural and construction equipment stores in the United States and Europe. The company is a retail dealer of CaseIH Agriculture equipment and a retail dealer of New Holland Agriculture, Case Construction and New Holland Construction equipment in the United States.
TITN is trading down 1.84% at $21.29 on Tuesday. The stock has been trading between $18.50 and $36.92 for the past 52 weeks.