Machinery giant Agco has bought the remaining 50% of the Laverda combine business and factory at Breganze in Italy from Italian farm machinery group Argo.

That means it has another brand to add to its Massey Ferguson, Fendt, Challenger and Valtra businesses. The deal includes German grass machinery maker Fella, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Laverda.

Agco has pledged to develop the sales of Laverda combines and Fella equipment. Argo, meanwhile, says it will concentrate on its McCormick and Landini tractor brands.

 
The announcement is the latest twist in a long-running series of developments involving Laverda. The combine maker was originally owned by Fiatagri and then became part of New Holland, which was created when Fiat bought Ford’s agricultural operations.

When Fiat also bought Case IH, the EU competition authorities insisted that it divest itself of one of its combine businesses. Fiat then sold Laverda to the Argo Group in 2000.

In 2004 Argo and Agco struck a deal whereby Laverda supplied combines to Agco to sell under its own brand colours. By 2007 that had developed into a 50:50 joint venture.

Agco closed its Dronningborg combine plant in mid-2010, transferring production to the Laverda factory in Italy. This plant now produces MF Activa, Beta and Centora combines, as well as the new hybrid MF Delta models. It will also sell combines in Laverda, Challenger and Fendt livery for other markets. Agco also has combine plants in Kansas and Brazil, but those machines aren’t currently sold into the UK.

About 1000 Laverda combines are built at the Breganze plant each year, the bulk of them going to Italy and France. Though relatively popular in the UK in years gone by, only small numbers of Laverda-branded combines come into the UK these days. They are currently sold through three dealers (in Hampshire, Yorkshire and N Wales).

Fella, meanwhile, was bought by Argo in 2004. Its equipment is sold in the UK by Rustons Engineering.