ITALIAN MOWERS MANUFACTURER BFB/GF TO BE AQUIRED BY KUBOTA.
Italian Manufacturer Officine BIEFFEBI s.p.a. (Head Office: Lombardia, Italy; hereinafter “BFB”), and BFB’s subsidiary, Gianni Ferrari s.r.l. (Head Office: Emilia-Romagna, Italy; hereinafter “GF”) announced today that the mower business division, will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kubota Holdings Europe B.V., Kubota’s European Headquarters for its farm & industrial machinery business (Head Office: Nieuw-Vennep, the Netherlands; President: Yasukazu Kamada; hereinafter “KHE”). Part of the Kubota Corporation (Head Office: Naniwa-ku, Osaka, Japan; President and Representative Director: Yuichi Kitao; hereinafter “Kubota”)

Background and Purpose

• The Kubota Group’s mower business in Europe has shown solid growth in the market segment for professional and high-end consumer mowers owing to their superior durability and operability.
  ● Center Collecting Front Mower (“CCFM”) is a top-of-the-line model for professional mid- and lager-size lawn mowers.　In recent years, CCFM have experienced a steady increase in demand in Europe.
  ● Both BFB and GF are enjoying tremendous popularity as pioneers of CCFM in Italy, France, Germany, the U.K., and other countries in Western Europe.
  ● The two companies and Kubota each have a competitive advantage in different markets and product lines and perfectly complement each other, making this business partnership an optimal one. The new born company, Kubota Gianni Ferrari s.r.l., .(Head Office: Emilia-Romagna, Italy) expects to expand its product line and, by integrating each other’s resources in the sales, production, and development processes, accelerate the expansion of its business there.

The closing of this transaction is subject to the completion of the condition precedents including the obtainment of the Golden Power clearance. (the Golden Power is the special power of the Italian government to limit or stop foreign direct investments (“FDI”) and corporate transactions involving Italian strategic assets).

Overview of BFB and GF

About BFB
Corporate name: Officine BIEFFEBI S.p.a.
Business: Develop, manufacture and sale of small and mid-size mower
Established: 1979
Location: Gonzaga, Lombardia, Italy

About GF
Corporate name: Gianni Ferrari s.r.l.
Business: Develop, manufacture and sale of small and large-size mower
Established: 1989
Location: Reggiolo, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Regerence

About KHE
Corporate name: Kubota Holdings Europe B.V.
Business: Management of farm and industrial machinery business
Established: 2017
Location: Nieuw-Vennep, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Representative: Yasukazu Kamada