Caterpillar is set to appoint Zeppelin as its distributor for construction and mining equipment in Sweden, Denmark and Greenland.

Andreas Brand, chairman of Zeppelin's supervisory board, said the group was already one of Caterpillar's "biggest and most successful distribution and service partners worldwide".

Indeed, Zeppelin has been active in the sales and servicing of the OEM's construction and mining products since 1954. Today, it offers these in Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Russia, Ukraine, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Armenia and Belarus.

Previously, the Dutch Pon group had been the Cat dealer for the Nordic territories, and it will continue to offer its equipment in the Netherlands and Norway.

Pon and Zeppelin have agreed that the assets of Pon's previous business operations in Sweden and Denmark will be migrated to the Zeppelin Group, subject to the antitrust authorities giving regulatory approval.

The takeover will happen in the context of an ‘asset deal' between Pon and Zeppelin. This means that Pon's assets that are required for the transaction - such as land, buildings, machinery, patents and contracts - will be transferred to Zeppelin.

Peter Gerstmann, chairman of the management board of Zeppelin, said: "We will be offering our entire portfolio of new and used machines, service and spare parts in our new territories, as well as our equipment rental and service solutions package.

"We also offer the right products and services for the mining industry in the north of Sweden.

"Our experts have plenty of experience that enables them to capably meet the specific challenges of the mining business, as in the CIS countries, Zeppelin has been very successfully looking after customers in the raw material extraction sector for over twenty years."

Alongside its partnership with Caterpillar, Zeppelin will also take over the SITECH companies that specialise in the distribution and servicing of products from the US Trimble technology group, which manufactures machine controls, GPS navigation systems and fleet management systems.