Powerscreen close to sellingMatbro to John Deere

02 April 1998

Powerscreen ‘close’ to selling
Matbro to John Deere

POWERSCREEN appears to be close to selling its Matbro subsidiary to John Deere, the United States agricultural machinery manufacturer, reports the Financial Times.

It says John Deere is thought to have signed a letter of intent to buy the specialist tractor maker but it is delaying a final decision until after 9 April. This is the date by which it should have seen a report by auditors KPMG into the accounting problems at the company.

Now Stephen Sly, a solicitor at Russell & Creswick, Sheffield, who has been retained by Extec Screens and Crushers, a Matbro competitor, claims that the mispricing which partly caused Matbros problems may also have affected other parts of the group.

The solicitor said he was examining allegations of anti-competitive pricing which might have affected Extec which only competes against the stone screening and crushing divisions of Powerscreen. Powerscreen has so far insisted there was no mispricing in the divisions.

Powerscreen said allegations of wider mispricing would be examined in KPMGs report. It would not comment on plans to sell Matbro.

• Two step down at Powerscreen, FWi, 27 March – Click here

• Financial Times 02/04/98 page 34