Caterpillar Completes Acquisition of Sabre Engines Ltd.

Caterpillar Inc. has acquired Sabre Engines Ltd., a family-owned company in the U.K. specializing in high-performance marine diesel engines. "Caterpillar is proud to announce this acquisition and welcomes Sabre into the Caterpillar family," said Douglas R. Oberhelman, Caterpillar vice-president with responsibility for the company's Engine Products Division. "Sabre is a well-managed company with dedicated people, state-of-the-art design and technology, and a solid customer base. And they have significant growth potential - in markets, technology and products." Sabre has had an established Cooperation Agreement with Perkins Engines Company Ltd. since 1991, whereby Perkins sells core engines to Sabre for marinization. Oberhelman noted the Sabre/Perkins relationship has worked extremely well for both companies and it is from this relationship Caterpillar is confident even further benefits can be achieved. Caterpillar already offers 27 different engine models and sells more marine diesel engines over 250 bhp (185 bkW) than any other manufacturer in the world. The addition of Sabre Engines Ltd. will complement Caterpillar's global offering of marine power systems below 300 bhp (224 bkW). "The benefit to our customers and the marine industry is boat builders will be able to one-stop-shop a wider horsepower range for Caterpillar marine power systems," said Oberhelman. Paul Freeman, commercial director of Sabre Engines said, "Sabre has proven expertise in designing world class, marine propulsion and marine genset engines from core bases. As a part of Caterpillar, Sabre gains access to the financial, technical, marketing and logistical strengths and resources it needs to continue growing and improving. This will not only be good for the customers we serve, but for our employees as well."