The Jim Pattison Group, considered Canada’s second largest private company, has acquired 2 major John Deere farm equipment dealer groups in Western Canada since late February.

The News Review reported on February 26 that Pattison had acquired Maple Farm Equipment. Headquartered in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Maple Farm operates 7 dealership locations in Balcarres, Foam Lake, Moosomin, Preeceville, Russell, Wynyard and Yorkton. Cervus Equipment Corp., one Deere’s largest dealer groups with 36 ag equipment locations in Western Canada, New Zealand and Australia, also owns 20% of Maple Farm.

Pattison followed that up with the acquisition of JayDee AgTech. That purchase became effective as of May 1. JayDee AgTech operates 9 John Deere dealerships with locations across Western and North Central Saskatchewan. JayDee is based in Swift Current, Saskatchewan.

It was Farm Equipment’s Dealership of the Year in 2011. At the time, JayDee reported annual revenues of nearly $200 million.

According to reports, the Jim Pattison Group, headquartered in Vancouver, boasts more than 500 locations in a wide range of businesses, with annual sales of over $8.1 billion and more than 36,000 employees. The acquisition of Maple Farm Equipment was the group’s first foray into agriculture.

According to The News Review report, owner Jim Pattison, discussed his plans for Maple Farm Equipment. “We hope that we can bring capital if we need it, we think there may be some opportunities to grow in different ways that we might be helpful if needed. I think that we are very long-term players ourselves, we don’t buy things for 3 months, 3 years or even 30 years, we do everything for the long, long term. We felt that this is the manufacturer, the quality of the people in this company, and we hope that we can add some stability to the long term that might be helpful.”

It was indicated that Pattison planned no management or staffing changes at either dealership and operational decision making will continue to be made locally.

In a published report, Pattison said, the move into agriculture was something that the company wanted to make, and they were connected with Maple through John Deere itself. Pattison says they want to get in the industry with the company they saw to be an industry leader, and so the first step was to start a relationship with John Deere, before connecting with Maple Farm Equipment itself. Pattison says that farming is not going away, so it’s a wise investment.

“What we believe is that the population of the world is going to continue to grow, and we think the need for food is going to be significantly more important,” Pattison said.