Nortrax has sold seven of its John Deere Construction and Forestry locations in South Florida to Dobbs Management Service.
The purchase, made through DJD Equipment Holdings, includes full service stores in Tampa, Orlando, West Palm Beach, Miami and Ft. Myers, as well as parts only stores in Pompano and Riverview. The businesses will operate as Dobbs Equipment and will retain its headquarters in Tampa.
“We believe this sale represents a key strategic distribution move for John Deere and Nortrax,” said Nortrax President and CEO Tim J. Murphy. “The Dobbs family has a phenomenal track record going back to 1920 of investing and growing business for the long term.
Dobbs is rehiring all of the employees that work at the locations purchased from Nortrax.
“They bring a proven track record, great financial stability and a long-term commitment to grow and support the John Deere brand in the Florida market,” Murphy said. “I believe this is an exciting move for the Dobbs Family, for John Deere, for the new Dobbs employees and most of all, for our customers.”
Dobbs Management Service is the family investment office led by Edward J. Dobbs. The Dobbs family currently owns several other companies including Premier Distributing, a beverage distributor representing Anheuser-Busch; heavy duty truck distributors, GWP Holdings, LLC and DPTC Holdings, LLC which represents Peterbilt, Volvo and Mack; Highline Aftermarket Holdings, an automotive aftermarket distributor; Strategic Behavioral Health, an inpatient psychiatric hospital company; and, Potter Electric Signal, LLC, an international fire and security controls manufacturer.
“Our family has decades of experience in successfully representing top tier manufacturers,” Dobbs said. “We believe that John Deere represents the highest quality products and customer support in the market; we look forward to a strong and successful long-term relationship with Deere & Co.”
McNally Capital initiated the discussion between Dobbs and John Deere with regards to this transaction and served as an advisor to Dobbs. In addition, McNally made an equity co-investment.
“McNally Capital introduced us to this unique opportunity with John Deere and worked tirelessly, providing tremendous insight and advice,” Dobbs said. “We look forward to having McNally as our partner going forward.”
Nortrax operates John Deere construction and forestry dealerships throughout the United States and Canada. Based in Tampa, FL, the company supports the construction, forestry, commercial worksite and mining markets in Eastern Canada, as well as the Midwest and northeast regions of the United States.
