Atenor Group has sold Belgian-based farming, gardening, building and civil engineering equipment importer and distributor Matermaco, and its subsidiary Matera, to the Dutch Mechan Group, an Atenor Group statement said.

Matermaco is the sole Belgian distributor of makes such as Komatsu, Massey-Fergusson, Liebherr, Bell and Kubota. Matermaco and Matera had a combined turnover of more than 50 million euros in 2004.
Matermaco supplies Komatsu, AUSA and Fiora forklifts.

The Mechan Group, part of the Dutch ZBG Group, distributes equipment, particularly Massey-Fergusson tractors, to similar industry segments in the Netherlands.

The sale, which is subject to approval by Belgian competition authorities, will have a positive impact of more than three million euros on Atenor Group's 2005 results, the statement said.