AriensCo enters partnership with Japan-based Yanmar

Rich Palzewic

Staff

November 2, 2026

BRILLION – Yanmar Holdings Co., Ltd. (“Yanmar”) and Brillion-based AriensCo recently announced a strategic partnership to accelerate next-generation technology development and deliver greater value for dealers, customers, and partners of both companies.

Through the combination – which unites two multi-generational, family-owned businesses – Dan Ariens, Chairman & CEO of AriensCo, said Yanmar, a Japan-based manufacturer of engines, agricultural machinery, and energy systems, becomes the majority partner in AriensCo.

He said both companies will continue operating as usual under their respective brands, from their current headquarters, with the same teams, and with their manufacturing and distribution networks intact.

“Strong relationships have always been at the core of AriensCo’s strategy, and we are confident this new partnership with Yanmar is the right next step to position our company as an R&D leader while maintaining the same commitments to quality and longevity that have always distinguished our brands,” Dan said. “As a family business with a history spanning more than 100 years, Yanmar shares our belief that family ownership is a competitive advantage.”

Dan said the partnership provides continuity by keeping family ownership at the heart of AriensCo – adding that the Ariens family will retain a significant stake and lead operations and strategy from its existing headquarters in Brillion.

He said it allows both companies to look beyond short-term business performance to deliver long-term value to their dealers, customers, partners, and communities around the world.

“We are stronger together.”

Takehito Yamaoka, President and Representative Director of Yanmar, stated in a press release that AriensCo has built trusted brands and strong customer and dealer relationships over generations.

“Together, we aim to create greater value for customers, dealers, and the communities we serve,” he wrote. “This partnership will also provide a strong foundation for the long-term growth of both companies. We look forward to building a lasting partnership founded on our shared values.”

A history of two family-owned companies

Established in 1933, AriensCo is a privately owned manufacturer of outdoor power equipment based in Brillion.

The company is now under the fourth and fifth generation of leadership, with Dan alongside his sons, President Nicholas Ariens and Chief Revenue Officer Stephen Ariens.

According to its website (ariensco.com), AriensCo manufactures equipment under the Ariens®, Gravely®, and AS-Motor® brand names.

Its RapidCare® division provides service and support to dealers with parts, a call center, and trained field service technicians.

The company also launched Henry’s Parts & Equipment, a will-fit aftermarket parts business  in 2023.

The website further states that AriensCo Hospitality began in 2020 with two luxury event venues, Stone Prairie and Round Lake Farms.

Additionally, it opened the Ariens Nordic Center in December 2022.

With origins in Osaka, Japan, in 1912, Yanmar was the first ever to succeed in making a compact diesel engine of a practical size in 1933.

Its website (yanmar.com) states that the company is a pioneer in diesel engine technology and a global innovator in a wide range of industrial equipment.

From small and large engines, agricultural machinery and facilities, construction equipment, energy systems and marine, to machine tools and components, Yanmar’s global business operations span seven domains.

Guided by its purpose, “A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE – New Value through Technology,” Yanmar provides advanced solutions to the challenges customers face on land, at sea, and in the city, working toward realizing a sustainable future.

More on the partnership

Dan said the companies’ new partnership positions Yanmar and AriensCo to transform the industry and lead the development of next-generation industrial power equipment by using technology such as automation, artificial intelligence, electrification, and complex global supply chains.

He said Yanmar’s engineering, production, and diagnostic capabilities, alongside AriensCo’s established North American and European manufacturing and distribution networks, enable the partners to compete at scale while staying grounded in the quality, longevity, and trust that have defined both companies for decades.

“The partnership is also expected to create new opportunities for AriensCo’s nationwide dealer network,” Dan said. “Over time, dealers may benefit from broader product and technology capabilities, enhanced service, diagnostic resources, and access to Yanmar’s global business network.”

With the outdoor power equipment industry consolidating for about the last 20 years, Dan said partnerships like the one between AriensCo and Yanmar have been occurring more frequently.

“We’ve remained independent, and it was always our intent to remain a privately held, family-operated, and family-owned company,” he said. “Every year, we meet as a family and look at our strategic planning. The family members meet to discuss important topics about the long-term success of the company.”

One of the topics discussed at the strategic planning meeting two years ago, Dan said, was consolidation, with leaders agreeing it was something the company should keep an eye on.

“Typically, AriensCo is looking for acquisitions – not to be acquired,” Dan said. “In the middle of our discussions about consolidation, Yanmar asked us to make them a zero-turn [mower] as a private label, which we negotiated and agreed to do.”

After working with Yanmar on the zero-turn, Dan said leaders from the Japanese-based company signaled they wanted to chat with AriensCo about “something bigger,” which eventually led to the acquisition.

“We didn’t go out looking to be acquired – Yanmar approached us,” he said. “We agreed to chat about it, and it eventually led to our partnership. It’s a partnership based on the family-owned foundations between two long-standing companies.”

Dan said there are several other similarities relating to the partnership between AriensCo and Yanmar.

“There are some interesting and strange coincidences,” he said. “My great-grandfather started Brillion Iron Works in the late 1800s, but he lost that in the Great Depression. After 40 years of running Brillion Iron Works and its subsequent end, AriensCo got its start in 1933, the same year Yanmar introduced the very first compact diesel engine. Additionally, the current CEO/chairman of Yanmar and I are identical in age. We also both took over the business as CEO in 1998.”

Leading to more growth

Dan said the partnership should not be looked at as anything but positive.

He said a few weeks ago, he was in Japan meeting with Yanmar leadership, and the week after, they followed suit by visiting the U.S. 

“We discussed strategies and synergy opportunities,” Dan said. “We’ve gelled from day one since last April when we started talking.”

Due to the partnership, Dan said there will be more growth potential because this will allow AriensCo to extend its product lines.

“We’re going to help Yanmar with extending their distribution channel in North America,” he said. “I also recently finished up meeting with our European division, who were in the U.S., and the opportunities for us to grow in Europe are also quite strong. As I recently said to all the employees, Yanmar doesn’t really have a power equipment footprint in the United States.”

With the partnership, Dan said AriensCo basically becomes Yanmar’s turf division.

“We created a brand-new division for them,” he said. “America is where the turf business lives. It’s the biggest in the world by far, by a factor of probably five or six times. Them having access to this market now through AriensCo is a significant opportunity. For both companies, it’s a win-win.”

A 100-year, and counting, legacy

Although Northeast Wisconsin has been experiencing milder winters lately, Dan said that had nothing to do with the recent partnership.

“We sell snowblowers all over the world,” he said with a laugh. “Our snowblowers are in Eastern Europe, the Scandinavian countries, and anywhere there is snow. And when the Russian conflict ends, that would open up some big opportunities in Russia.”

Dan said even Hawaii and AriensCo have something in common. 

“Nobody probably knows there is a weather station on the top of the Big Island,” he said. “That weather station needs a snowblower, so it has an Ariens up there.” 

Because the roots of AriensCo have been around for more than a century, Dan said from a legacy standpoint, the decision to enter into a partnership with Yanmar was not an easy one.

With him being the fourth generation involved with the company and his children the fifth, he said he and the family have reflected a lot on the decision.

“I’ve asked myself, ‘What would my father, grandfather, and great-grandfather think about this partnership?’” he said. “I concluded they would be happy to know the company will continue as part of our family business.”