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Sparex is to be bought by Agco

Agco, the US-based maker of Massey-Ferguson farm equipment, said on Friday that it had agreed to buy Sparex, the global distributor of accessories and tractor replacement parts based in south west of England.

Sparex manufactures and distributes worldwide, is based in Exeter, and employs 400 people. Unlike their competitor Spaldings, the company deals with the machinery trade only, which means they have marketing, distribution and promotional costs that are much less.

The company has always majored on quality, holding their prices down through low costs. Sparex was founded in 1965 and consists of eighteen trading companies in seventeen different countries.

Sparex supplies only to trade customers and its customer base is made up of over 20,000 retailers and importing wholesalers in over 70 countries Worldwide. Retailer customers include tractor and implement dealers, agricultural engineers, country stores and an increasing number of businesses unconnected with agriculture. The Sparex product range consists of over 30,000 items for farm tractors; agricultural implements; and others.

The group's manufacturing company Spenco has its factory in the UK. Spenco supplies both the Sparex Group and external customers including several major OEMs.