Georgia-based agricultural machinery giant AGCO announced Thursday that it will spend $2 billion to purchase an 85% stake in the agriculture business of technology firm Trimble, in a bid to boost its automated and precision farming offerings.
AGCO said it will create a joint venture with the investment, which will be the exclusive provider of Trimble’s agricultural technology offerings. Those include hardware, software and cloud computing products that assist growers across the entire crop cycle.
Precision farming describes a range of strategies that use technology and data to help growers increase yields, while also using resources like fertilizer and water more efficiently.
AGCO, which is headquartered in Duluth, manufactures a wide range of farming equipment — from tractors and combine harvesters to seed distributors and hay balers — under a constellation of brand names.
Eric Hansotia, AGCO’s president and CEO, said on a conference call Thursday that the deal is the largest acquisition in the company’s history and will become the largest ag tech deal ever.
“The transaction enhances and accelerates AGCO’s growth ambitions around autonomy, precision spraying, connected farming, data management and sustainability,” Hansotia said.
In a news release, AGCO said it expects to close the deal in the first half of next year.
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