TTC-The Turf Care Company Celebrates 50th Anniversary

TTC, the Turf Care Company GmbH, Ransomes Jacobsen's distributor for Germany with head office in Munster, is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2012. Ransomes Jacobsen is a major manufacturer of turf maintenance equipment and a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company.

On a recent visit to Ransomes Jacobsen's international headquarters in Ipswich by the company's management team and members of staff, managing director John Moore was presented with a commemorative crystal memento by David Withers, president of Jacobsen.

Commenting on TTC's milestone anniversary and their continued association with Ransomes, David Withers said, "Over the past 50 years TTC has been the perfect example of what is expected from a distributor of a multi-national business, such as ours. Well managed, loyal, profitable, balancing their needs with ours and providing excellent returns; they represent everything we look for in our business partners. However, what really makes this an outstanding business are its people. A significant number of the staff have been with the company for decades, providing continuity and service excellence to their customers.

"Everyone in Ipswich and Charlotte extends their warmest congratulations to John Moore and his team as they reach this milestone in the company's history and wish them continued success as they enter the next half century of business."

The TTC company was founded in 1962 as Landre and Glinderman GmbH, a joint venture between Ransomes, Sims and Jefferies and their Dutch distributor at that time, the Landre Group. In 1970 the company moved to new and larger premises in Munster, where it is located today.

In 1976, Ransomes, Simms and Jefferies acquired the shares of the Landre Group and the company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Ipswich-based manufacturer, trading as Ransomes Germany GmbH. During a period of continued success, the company expanded into neighbouring countries, but still operating from its base in Munster. The company's trading name changed to Ransomes GmbH.

In 1998, Textron - a US-based manufacturing conglomerate - acquired Ransomes in the UK and merged it with their existing Jacobsen turf maintenance equipment division in Charlotte, North Carolina. Ransomes GmbH took over the activities of Jacobsen E-Z-GO Textron GmbH, distributing an enhanced range of mowers, golf cars and related equipment across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Reflecting this change in ownership, the company was known as Ransomes Jacobsen GmbH.

2002 was a significant year for the business as it was sold from direct ownership by Textron to a private investment group TCR, headed by Thomas Reiter, a German entrepreneur with a group of businesses centred around the golf industry supplying hardware to golf professionals and turf maintenance equipment to golf courses. Now an independent importer, the business still focused on its core business distributing Ransomes, Jacobsen, Cushman, Ryan and E-Z-GO products across an expanded trading territory that included Hungary and Croatia. The company name was changed to TTC - the Turf Care Company GmbH.

Today TTC is part of the thriving TCR group, an international, multi-industry company with over 200 employees and a turnover in excess of US$ 100 million. TCR leverages its network of golf, e-mobility, garden, municipality and real estate businesses providing end users with solutions-based products and unrivalled after-sales support. Powerful brands include Bigmax Golf, Adams Golf, Tommy Armour, Back Tee, Italia Independent, Yoom, MPF Drive, Agro, Polar, E-Z-GO, Jacobsen, Iseki and Holder.

For more information visit: www.textron.com.