WEST FARGO, N.D. — Titan Machinery Inc., a leading network of full-service agricultural and construction equipment stores, today announced as part of its leadership succession plan, David Meyer, the Company’s Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer, will transition to Executive Chairman effective February 1, 2024, and will also continue to serve as Chairman of the Board. At that time,  Bryan Knutson, the Company’s President and Chief Operating Officer, will succeed Mr. Meyer as Chief Executive Officer, holding the position of President and Chief Executive Officer, and will become a member of the Company’s Board of Directors.

David Meyer co-founded Titan Machinery in 1980 on the principle of best-in-class product support, and as an early pioneer of dealer consolidation, saw the benefits of consolidating dealership resources to leverage scale, equipment and parts inventories, training, and other industry expertise to provide world-class equipment support to all our agricultural and construction customers. As the Company’s long-time CEO and largest shareholder, Meyer has driven the expansion of the Company’s footprint from its initial two store locations in 1980 to an international dealership network which now spans 3 continents with nearly 150 locations.

In a note to investors following Titan's announcement, Baird Senior Research Analyst Mircea (Mig) Dobre wrote in a note to investors, "Mr. Meyer had a highly successful tenure as CEO, taking the company public and greatly expanding Titan’s footprint. As the company’s founder and early industry pioneer of ag dealership consolidation, Mr. Meyer has overseen the growth of Titan from a regional dealership of only 2 locations to an international dealer network with a footprint now spanning over 150 locations across 7 countries and 3 continents.

"Since taking the company public in 2007, Mr. Meyer’s vision of leveraging the scale of full-service dealerships through consolidation and expansion into new markets (Europe in 2011 and most recently Australia with the O'Connors acquisition) has transformed Titan into one of the largest ag and construction dealerships in North America. The ability of Titan to leverage its scale and service offerings was most apparent over the past 3 years with the company able to prudently manage through OEM supply challenges and take advantage of a favorable dealer operating environment."

“I am very proud of what our team at Titan Machinery has achieved since my early days in the dealership nearly 50 years ago, and the breadth and depth of our operation is a testament to the talent that we’ve attracted to the organization,” commented Mr. Meyer. “Bryan is a natural leader with a successful track record and has proven his ability to excel across all aspects of our business. As his career has progressed through senior management positions with increased levels of responsibility, Bryan has been an integral member of our executive team and has demonstrated a thorough and insightful approach to strategy and operational execution, while at the same time showing an ability to build lasting relationships that have served our customers, employees, suppliers, and shareholders extremely well. I am extremely confident in Bryan’s capabilities and have watched his development over the last 20 plus years as he has excelled in both store and central leadership roles, which makes him uniquely qualified to lead Titan Machinery in our next stage of growth.”

In his new role as Executive Chairman, Mr. Meyer will focus his efforts on leading the Board of Directors, providing counsel to Mr. Knutson and the leadership team, and continuing to advance Titan’s acquisition strategy.

Knutson has established a successful track record at Titan Machinery for more than two decades, most recently as Chief Operating Officer since 2017, and adding the position of President in 2022. Prior to these executive roles, Knutson led Titan Machinery’s North American Agriculture and Construction Equipment Operations and has implemented lasting positive changes across the organization, leveraging his first-hand experience as a Sales Consultant, General Manager, and various Senior Field positions. He has an extensive understanding of the Titan Machinery business and will bring his deep appreciation of Titan’s culture to grow upon the success that Meyer established during his time as Chief Executive Officer. In addition to his involvement in several industry organizations and dealer groups, Bryan is Chairman of the Board of the Pioneer Equipment Dealers Association representing Industry Equipment Dealers in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, and has served long tenures on both the Case IH Agriculture and Case Construction Dealer Advisory Boards. Knutson graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., with honors where he played varsity hockey and was a member of the academic all-conference team.

“I’m excited, honored, and humbled by the opportunity to lead the Titan Machinery organization, which has been such an important part of my life for over 20 years,” stated Mr. Knutson. “During my time at Titan Machinery, David and I built a very strong relationship, working together with our global team to deliver on our growth strategy through a track record of robust and consistent organic growth, M&A execution, advancing our customer care strategy and employee engagement, and instilling a culture of operational excellence that has resulted in an improved margin profile across all segments of our business. I look forward to continuing to work with David, our Board, our executive leadership team, and our more than 3,000 global team members to continue providing world-class service to our customers and building significant value for our stakeholders.”

Commenting on Knutson's opportunity going forward, Dobre wrote, "Though Titan’s ability to drive shareholder value creation during the ag upcycle of the past 3 years has been undeniable, the forward setup has become much tougher, with increasing industry supply and peaking used equipment prices likely to further pressure already peaking equipment margins, limiting earnings upside in FY24 and likely into FY25. Prudently managing a return to a more normalized environment and the integration of the recent O’Connor’s acquisition will be top priorities for Mr. Knutson in his new role.

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