The (Eugene, Ore.) Register-Guard via Associated Press

EUGENE, Ore. -- The Papé Group has acquired five John Deere Agriculture and Turf equipment dealerships in Idaho and eastern Washington.

The Papé Group, which is based in Eugene, Ore., is a holding company for equipment dealerships throughout the West.

The Papé Group bought the dealerships from Columbia Tractor Inc. The dealerships are located in Moscow, Ponderay and Bonners Ferry in Idaho, and in Tekoa and Spokane in Washington.

The sale was completed Oct. 28, but the purchase price and other details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Company officials were unavailable for comment Monday, Oct. 31.

The acquisition enables Papé to expand its sales and service network and to introduce new John Deere Agriculture and Turf product lines to complement its extensive capital equipment offerings, according to a company statement.

"This acquisition will ensure that even more customers in eastern Washington and Idaho will be able to experience Papé's outstanding sales, service and support capabilities," Rodger Spears, president of Papé Machinery Inc. said in the statement.

The privately held Papé Group does business in seven Western states. Its seven divisions sell and service Kenworth trucks; heavy equipment, such as backhoes and bulldozers; materials handling equipment, such as forklifts; and smaller equipment, such as ditch diggers.

This summer Papé sold its Flightcraft aviation division, which it had owned since 1989, to Atlantic Aviation of Plano, Texas.

The Papé Group's roots date to 1938 when Edward Papé sold Allis-Chalmers tractors from a store on East Fifth Avenue in downtown Eugene. It has since grown into a large, multistate operation.