KERRY Stokes's Seven Group Holdings is set to cash in on the largest global construction and mining machinery deal of recent years: United States giant Caterpillar's blockbuster takeover of its rival, Bucyrus International.
Seven's earthmoving business WesTrac has the exclusive rights to sell Caterpillar's kit in Western Australia, NSW, the ACT and large parts of China.
WesTrac managing director Jim Walker said the deal was potentially "extremely good" for the company, as Australian commodity exports boom and sales of mining equipment to China surge, The Australian Financial Review reports.
He said the deal would particularly boost WesTrac's offering in NSW's and China's booming coal industries.
"Underground coal in China is a huge opportunity and market," Mr Walker said. "There are more underground coalmines in China than in Australia. They are a lot smaller at the moment but it's like everything – it starts off smaller then it gets bigger. There's lot of opportunity there."