KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- KHD Group of Cologne, West Germany, said Friday it has sold its Atlanta-area equipment unit, Deutz-Allis Corp., to a management group as part of a reorganization of U.S. operations.
Terms were not disclosed.
Deutz-Allis president and chief executive officer Robert J. Ratliff and other members of current management bought the company, KHD said. Other financing was provided by Hamilton Robinson and Co. Inc., a New York investment group.
Deutz-Allis lost $1.6 million on sales of $279 million in 1989 after posting losses of $83 million in 1987 and $28 million in 1988.
Peter M. Rudhart, president of KHD Deutz of America, said Deutz-Allis' operating performance recently has improved, but the company has lost market share in the competitive American farm market.
'The divestiture of Deutz-Allis allows KHD to concentrate on the company's core industrial businesses in the U.S.,' said Siegfried Barschkett, a KHD board member.
The company was formed in 1985 when KHD acquired some agricultural equipment lines of Allis-Chalmers Corp. and merged them with its Deutz-Fahr farm equipment business.
Deutz-Allis, based in Norcross, Ga., has combine operations in Independence, Mo., and a supply parts division in Batavia, Ill. It employs about 970 people.
Ratliff, who joined Deutz-Allis in 1988, said the only major change resulting from the management buyout would be a return of ownership to the United States.
'Otherwise, our employee organization, our dealer network, our product line and all other elements of the company will remain in place. The new company will honor all existing contracts, and will service all existing warranties on Deutz-Allis products now in use in the U.S. and Canada,' he said.
Ratliff said Deutz-Allis's new owners expect the company to maintain its market share if the farm equipment market continues to improve.
'Then, with some new innovations and technologies that will be introduced in the next 12 months, we hope to gain market share,' he said.
The company will introduce a range of higher-horsepower tractors later in the summer, Ratliff said.
Deutz-Allis recently brought out the Hawk line of gleaner-combines that incorporates a new,more efficient processing unit, he said. The unit improves yield and quality of the harvest.
Ratliff said the company also would focus on building a new-dealer network.
With the sale of Deutz-Allis, KHD's largest American subsidiary is Deutz Corp. of Atlanta, a distributor of diesel engines to industrial customers with annual sales of about $100 million.
Deutz Corp. also has a facility in Richmond, Ind.
KHD, which produces engines, turbines, and agricultural machinery, Thursday announced in West Germany the sale of its aeronautical engineering unit to BMW of Munich, West Germany.
KHD said it has sold unprofitable and non-strategic businesses worldwide since 1987, resulting in the divestiture of companies with total annual sales of about $600 million.
