Deere reaches agreement to sell irrigation operations

MOLINE, Ill., Feb. 26, 2014 /CNW/ - Deere & Company (NYSE: DE) announced today that it has reached a definitive agreement to sell its irrigation operations to FIMI Opportunity Funds, the leading private equity firm in Israel.

After being involved in the production of irrigation products for seven years, Deere announced in September its intention to seek strategic options for the irrigation operations known as John Deere Water.

Closing is expected in the second quarter of the 2014 calendar year. Terms of the sale are not being made public. BofA Merrill Lynch served as the exclusive financial advisor to Deere for the strategic review.

While Deere is exiting the John Deere Water operations, the company noted that as a part of its John Deere FarmSight™ strategy, it will continue to develop and offer products and services to help customers improve the overall performance of their farming operations, including the current in-field moisture and climate sensing technology, John Deere Field Connect.

John Deere Water is one of the world's largest full-line drip irrigation manufacturers with significant distribution in North and South America, Asia, Europe and Africa.

FIMI Opportunity Fund is Israel's largest and leading private equity fund, with more than US$ 2.0 billion in invested capital. Over the past 17 years, FIMI has completed 73 investments, of which it has realized 45. FIMI is currently investing through its fifth fund which focuses on investing in selected mature Israeli or Israeli-related companies with strong growth potential and a global footprint. FIMI has vast experience in growing and improving operational companies with a global footprint through focused business development activities and operational excellence. For more information, visit FIMI at www.fimi.co.il.

Deere & Company (NYSE: DE) is committed to the success of customers whose work is linked to the land, providing advanced products and services to cultivate, harvest, transform, enrich and build upon the land to meet the world's dramatically increasing need for food, fuel, shelter and infrastructure. For more information, visit John Deere at www.JohnDeere.com.

SOURCE: Deere & Company

Ken Golden, Director, Global Public Relations, 309-765-5678

http://www.deere.com

http://www.fimi.co.il