Escorts buys 100% stake in Polish JV

Escorts today announced that it has completely acquired its Polish joint venture, Farmtrac Tractors Europe Spa (FTES), which would help it further expand its European base.

The acquisition was made by the US-based Escorts Agri Machinery Inc,
the wholly-owned subsidiary of the company.

Rakesh Chopra, business head (agri machinery group) of Escorts, said: "We have given a very strategic conclusion to an extremely interesting journey with a promise of even more exciting times ahead. After the Ghana order worth $8.56 million, the acquisition of our Polish joint venture will help us get a larger market share for Farmtrac tractors in the European countries, and further strengthen our brand equity in the international markets."

Escorts had taken a 49% in FTES in June 2000, which was subsequently enhanced to 64% in May 2003. FTES, which was earlier known as Pol-Mot Escorts, is a Polish limited liability company with share capital of about $2 million.