CNH Combines Assets and Products of Case Corporation and New Holland.

The merged companies, Case Corporation and New Holland, following approval by regulatory agencies in the US and Europe, began trading as CNH on the New York Stock Exchange on November 15. CNH Global, N.V., the company created from combining the two companies, plans to operate under a multiple brand, multiple distribution business model, according to Jean-Pierre Rosso, CNH chairman and CEO.

With combined revenues of approximately $12 billion in 1998, CNH manufactures and markets agricultural and construction equipment under the following tradenames: Case, Case IH, Germec, Fiatallis, Fiat-Hitachi, Link-Belt, New Holland, O&K and Steyr. The merger also includes an equipment financing operation that will continue offering services under each brand organization.

"We intend to grow our combined business in established and developing markets, while aggressively reducing costs through process improvements and increased efficiencies," Russo said. The company expects to immediately implement integration plans which will realize $400 to $500 million in annual savings within the next three to four years.

Long-range, the company intends to design and build its agricultural and construction equipment on common platforms with differentiated features for specific customer groups.

New management team

In addition to Russo, who previously served as chairman and CEO of Case Corporation, the senior management team includes Umberto Quadrino, former chairman, president and CEO of New Holland. Quadrino will be co-chairman of the new company for a transition period to support the integration of the two companies.

Steven G. Lamb, former president and COO of Case, is president and COO of CNH. Ted French, former president of financial services and chief financial officer of Case, takes those positions in the new company.

Other members of the management team include: William T. Kennedy, president, New Holland Agricultural Business; Leopold Plattner, president, Case IH Agricultural Business; Harold D. Boyanovsky, president, Worldwide Agricultural Equipment Products; Fausto Lanfranco, president, Worldwide Construction Equipment Business; Andrew E. Graves, president, CNH Capital Corporation; Rafael Ansorena, senior vice president, New Holland Construction Equipment Business; and Jim McCullough; senior vice president, Case IH Construction Equipment Business.

Making concessions

To meet the demands of the regulatory agencies, each company must divest itself of specific assets. New Holland is required to sell its Genesis 2WD line and Versatile 4WD line of tractors, along with the plant in Winnepeg, Canada, in which those products are manufactured. Case must divest itself of its interest in Hay & Forage Industries in Hesston, Kansas, a 50/50 joint venture with AGCO Corporation.

CNH's facilities for manufacturing and research and development are globally located, including Austria (1), Belgium (2), France (5), Germany (4), Italy (7), Poland (1), UK (5), Brazil (4), Canada (1), US (12), Australia (1), India (1). The company has a number of joint ventures around the world, including tractors in China, Mexico, Pakistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan; loader backhoes and compactors in India; air seeders in Canada; cotton pickers in Uzbekistan; engines in the UK and US/North Carolina; and construction equipment in the US/Kentucky. Current R&D joint ventures are located in Turkey, UK, and Canada.

Long histories

Case, founded in 1842 near Racine, Wisconsin, by Jerome I. Case, first made grain threshing machines. The company developed a broad line of agricultural equipment and small- to medium-sized construction equipment through expansion and acquisition. Case Capital, the company's financial services business, was established in 1957.

New Holland's predecessors include Braud, a French company which began manufacturing agricultural equipment in 1870, and New Holland Machine Company in 1885. The New Holland company was formed in 1991 from the merger of Ford New Holland and Fiat Geotech. New Holland has a global presence in agricultural equipment and construction equipment.