BC equipment dealers merge

Two of BC’s largest farm equipment dealerships have merged.

Douglas Lake Equipment Inc. and Avenue Machinery Corp. announced the merger this week via social media. The combined entity will have eight locations, and has no plans to lay off staff.

“Avenue Machinery and Douglas Lake Equipment will continue operations under their respective names,” the announcement stated. “To ensure continuity, all company locations will continue operations, and all customer and vendor contacts will remain the same.”

The merger took effect August 1. It gives Avenue, which was founded in Mission in 1947 and ranks as the top Kubota dealership in Canada, outlets in Kamloops, Dawson Creek and Grande Prairie, Alberta.

Douglas Lake, established in 1999 in Kamloops, previously acquired Kenver Equipment in 2006, expanding it into the Peace. It added its Surrey location in 2012. The merger with Avenue extends its reach into the southern Interior through Avenue’s locations in Vernon, Kelowna and Rock Creek.

“We expect this merger will allow us to deliver more value and better service to our customers in the future,” the announcement stated, noting that customers will have “additional choice of service locations and an expanded selection of available machines.”

The expanded network of locations make the company one of the largest homegrown equipment dealers in BC, despite lacking a location on Vancouver Island. (PrairieCoast Equipment, with 10 locations across BC and Alberta, has a location in Nanaimo.)

Together, the two companies employ close to 180 people. Sales are not disclosed but Avenue claims to have doubled its revenues over the past decade.

Financial terms of the merger were not disclosed.