Chandlers merge with Lister Wilder

Chandlers (Farm Equipment) Ltd is set to purchase the Lister Wilder AGCO business – placing both businesses among the UK’s biggest dealerships for their respective partners.

Both family-owned businesses have steadily expanded over the past half century and have grown around the Massey Ferguson, Fendt and Valtra franchises.

Chandlers currently operates from seven depots covering primarily Lincolnshire and the East Midlands, while Lister operates from eight depots covering Oxfordshire and the South-Central region.

Both also partnered with Kubota for their commercial groundcare range of products, to give a comprehensive offering across all tractor horsepower sectors. Lister Wilder broadened its base further by encompassing Kubota construction across the South East of England.

With the Kubota business playing such an important part of Lister Wilder’s £100m turnover and Chandlers being keen to expand its AGCO operation in line with AGCO’s brand exclusivity strategy, an agreement has been reached that allows both businesses to develop in line with the strategic goals of their primary franchises.

Chandlers’ purchase of the Lister Wilder AGCO agricultural business will double the size of its operation, with the full line AGCO offering of Massey Ferguson and Fendt/Valtra brands distributed through focused channels.

At the same time, Lister Wilder will significantly expand its full line Kubota range of agricultural, groundcare and construction machinery across the south, making the two businesses among the biggest dealerships in the UK for their respective partners.

Regarding the future of the current Lister Wilder branches, from the 4^th January 2021, Chandlers will operate from the premises at Southam (Warwickshire), Wallingford (Oxfordshire), Devizes (Wiltshire) Cirencester (Gloucestershire) and Bristol.

Lister Wilder will continue to operate from Ashford (Kent), Guildford (Surrey), Reading (Berkshire) and cohabit Southam, Cirencester and Bristol, while the new Kubota Centres are built in the West.

The companies say this arrangement is a mutually beneficial agreement, allowing each enterprise to continue to invest in the very best of facilities, and in their respective teams going forward, to provide the highest level of customer service for their respective brands.