Caterpillar Inc. announces that Caterpillar Japan Ltd. (Caterpillar Japan) has acquired Caterpillar Tohoku Ltd. (Cat Tohoku), effective March 1. With the acquisition, Caterpillar Japan is restructuring its distribution network in Japan. This is being done to enhance service to its customers by providing them with a full range of products, services and solutions, and by leveraging Caterpillar's global offerings of products and services to meet customers' business needs and contribute to their success. The acquisition of Cat Tohoku supports Caterpillar's continued focus on providing the highest quality products and services around the world and continuing to grow its business in Japan.
For more than 40 years, Cat Tohoku was independently owned and operated, establishing a solid customer base providing sales, rental, service and aftermarket support for Cat machines in the six prefectures of Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata and Fukushima. Combining Caterpillar's extensive experience, Cat Tohoku's strong customer base and alignment with Caterpillar's other dealers across Japan is directed at better serving the customers in the Tohoku territory, where people suffered unprecedented damage from the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
"We are very excited to welcome the approximately 400 employees of Caterpillar Tohoku Ltd. and its three subsidiaries to Caterpillar Japan," says Ali Bahaj, vice president of Caterpillar Inc. and chairman and CEO of Caterpillar Japan Ltd. "Caterpillar would like to extend our admiration and appreciation to the Caterpillar Tohoku management team and employees who have guided the business for many years, including their recent heroic efforts in support of the disaster recovery that hit the area, as valuable members of the Caterpillar family," adds Bahaj.
