A company that owns eight Case IH dealerships in Alberta is in receivership.
Tom Klaray, vice-president of receiver PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. of Edmonton, said First Equipment Centre owed Case more than $30 million by the time it was placed in receivership on Aug. 23.
First Equipment owns dealerships in Grande Prairie, Red Deer, Camrose, Wetaskiwin, Vegreville, Fort Saskatchewan, Edmonton and St. Paul. They are being managed and kept open by the receiver, but PricewaterhouseCoopers eventually plans to sell them.
There is already an agreement in the works to sell the business in Red Deer, Klaray said.
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Bob Mann, Canadian sales manager for Case in Racine, Wisconsin, said the decision to place First Equipment into receivership was “purely a business situation.”
Mann said customers shouldn’t see any difference.
John Schmeiser, executive vice-president of Canada West Equipment Dealers Association, said First Equipment has always been a good member of the association.
He said the company bought a series of corporate-owned stores from Case a few years ago.
He also said First Equipment built state-of-the-art buildings, trained its staff well and had good growth in the first part of the 1990s. However, its sales slowed along with the general farm economy.
“Things have come to a grinding halt and they haven’t been able to sustain that growth.”
Major sales down
Schmeiser said sales of four-wheel drive tractors are down 28.9 percent from last year and dropped 32 percent in 1999.
Combine sales have increased 38 percent this year from last year, but in 1999 combine sales were down 55 percent from 1998.
The decline in equipment sales has had an impact on prairie dealers, Schmeiser said.
Red Eagle, the Alberta Case dealership in Westlock and Barrhead, was also placed in receivership earlier this year. It was not in the First Equipment group.
Dealership closures cause problems for farmers, Schmeiser said. The value of their equipment decreases because they are forced to look farther afield for parts and service.
He said good livestock prices are hopefully stabilizing the agricultural industry, which should mean an end to dealership closures.
“We’re cautiously optimistic this coming year.”
