BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - Bobcat Co. has been sold to a South Korea firm, its parent company says.
Bermuda-based Ingersoll-Rand Co. Ltd. announced Sunday that it is selling Bobcat and its utility equipment and attachments business units to Doosan Infracore for $4.9 billion in cash.
Ingersoll-Rand announced in May that it was looking into the possible sale or spin-off of North Dakota-based Bobcat, and construction-related businesses that no longer fit the company's long-term plans.
West Fargo-based Bobcat, known for its skid-steer loaders, employs more than 2,600 people in North Dakota. It has plants in Bismarck and in Gwinner, in southeastern North Dakota, that make machinery for light construction. Bobcat also has operations in the Czech Republic and China.
Ingersoll-Rand said in statement that it will shift its business focus to global climate control, industrial and security markets. The proceeds of the sale will go toward enhancing those lines, Ingersoll-Rand said.
''We will use the proceeds of the sale to make acquisitions that enhance the geographic reach, product lines, and manufacturing capabilities of our strategic business platforms, and we will augment organic growth by funding innovation and new product efforts,'' Chief Executive Herbert Henkel said.
Bobcat and the construction-related businesses generated $2.6 billion in revenues.
The deal is expected to close early in the fourth quarter.
Ingersol-Rand said the sale includes plants in North Dakota, Georgia, Minnesota, Virginia, China, the Czech Republic, France, Ireland and Wales. The company said the businesses in the sale have about 5,700 workers worldwide.
Bobcat began 60 years ago as Melroe Manufacturing, making a skid-steer loader to clean turkey barns in southeastern North Dakota. Ingersoll-Rand bought Bobcat in 1995, from Clark Equipment Co.