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In 1902 Major Ernest (Billy) Barlow formed Thos. Barlow & Sons in Durban. About Barloworld Equipment Some 25 years later in 1927 his son Charles Sydney "Punch" Barlow, who graduated as an engineer, negotiated the appointment of Thos. Barlow & Sons as the Caterpillar distributor for Natal and Transvaal. Work started on the Isando facility in 1960. By the year 1973 the Tractor Division of Barlow Rand Ltd comprised 30 companies, occupying 64 hectares of land, with over 2000 staff members. Neighbouring countries Namibia and Botswana were flourishing and gaining strong industry momentum. Barloworld Equipment's footprint increased in 1993 when the Caterpillar dealerships began to expand operations in Spain and Portugal. In 1994 the company was appointed as "The" Caterpillar dealer in Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and Angola. In 1998 South-West Siberia was incorporated in the company's dealership territories and has since been expanded into a dealership of 9, 8 million square km, covering six time zones that also include Eastern Siberia, Yakutia and the Russian Far East. Other initiatives like Congo Equipment formed in 2006, which was a joint venture between Barloworld Equipment and French Caterpillar dealer 'Tractafric' as 'The' Caterpillar dealer in the DRC's Katanga Province, a rich mining territory with enormous potential. |
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