03.01.2022

Holt acquires Kardie Equipment

The Caterpillar dealer for Texas, Holt, has acquired wind turbine cleaning company and Bronto sales and rental company Kardie Equipment/TGM Wind Services, of Austin Texas.

The acquisition is part of Holt’s strategy to invest in renewable energy resources and provide additional products and services to its customers. Kardie Equipment/TGM Wind Services will continue under the management of owner and founder Kevin Darby and also retain its name, operating as an entirely independent, wholly owned subsidiary of Holt.

TGM Wind was established in 2008 and started working with Bronto in 2009, when it ordered two 90 metre S90HLA/S295HLAs. By 2016 TGM’s rental fleet included 20 Bronto aerial lifts, and the following year TGM/Kardie and Bronto signed a distribution agreement covering 10 states.

Darby said: “We are proud to be a part of the Holt family of businesses, a values-based organization with a commitment to safety. This partnership will allow for expanded products and services for our customers while making our operations more efficient.”

Chief executive Peter Holt added: “Holt seeks to partner with like minded organisations and Kardie Equipment/TGM Wind Services aligns perfectly with our core values. This acquisition will help us bring added value to our customers with a safe, premium product that supports multiple industries who have a need to reach challenging heights.”
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Holt was established in California by Benjamin Holt in the mid 1880s when he produced his first horse drawn ‘Link-Belt Combined Harvester.’ He later introduced some of the earliest steam traction engines and began to focus on customer service. Finding that heavy farm equipment bogged down in the loose soil of the San Joaquin River Delta, Holt put his brain to work again, introducing tracked machines instead of wheels. In late 1904, the first successful track type tractor, the Caterpillar, crawled across a California wheat field, making history. Its commercial success came when Holt managed to install a petrol/gas engine in 1908. As the company grew, Holt moved the tractor manufacturing operations to a more central location in Peoria, Illinois. In 1925, Holt Manufacturing Company merged with one of its competitors, Best Tractor Company, to form Caterpillar Tractor Co, with C.L. Best as chairman.

The Holt distribution business went on to become one of the largest and most influential Cat dealers in the world, it remains a family company with 21 locations in Texas alone.