Toro Co. said Monday it will spend $227 million to buy the Boss line of professional snowplows and ice-treatment spreaders from Northern Star Industries.
The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2015, the company said.
Boss, which is based in Iron Mountain, Mich., generates about $125 million in annual revenue from snowplows, salt and sand spreaders and other ice removal accessories for light- and medium-duty trucks, ATVs and loaders.
In a statement, Toro chief executive Mike Hoffman said the acquisition will add to Toro's current line of snow throwers, chiefly aimed at residential and commercial customers. The emphasis on snow gives Toro a counterweight to its bigger business in lawn and golf-green maintenance equipment.
With Boss, Hoffman said, "We will gain another strong professional contractor brand, a portfolio of reliable counter-seasonal equipment, efficient manufacturing operations and a well established and broad North American distribution channel for these products."
Toro said it will pay for most of the acquisition with cash, though it will use a three-year promissory note for $30 million.
Boss represents the latest move by Toro to expand its product reach.
Last year, Toro bought a small Chinese micro-irrigation firm to help it tap into a "critical growth market." In 2012, it jumped into the construction equipment market when it bought key assets from Astec Underground and Stone Construction.
With Astec, Toro gained a line of trenchers and horizontal utility drills used to bury power, water and telecommunication lines. With Stone, Toro gained a concrete equipment maker. Last year, it broadened the line and introduced a large backhoe.
Toro, based in Bloomington, exceeded $2 billion in annual revenue for the first time last year and celebrated its 100th anniversary this summer.
The company announced the Boss acquisition after the market closed Monday and scheduled a conference call with analysts on Tuesday morning.
Toro closed Monday at $59.50, down 28 cents a share.
Dee DePass • 612-673-7725
