Deere & Co. has reached a deal to partner with Hitachi to form a joint venture in Brazil for manufacturing and sales of hydraulic excavators. The two companies will invest about $124 million to build two factories, citing Brazil as a fast-growing market. The venture will combine Hitachi’s technologies for hydraulic excavators with Deere’s already strong local presence.

The head office will be in Indaiatuba, São Paulo, Brazil. The company will make excavators ranging from 15 metric tons to 40 metric tons, and will import and sell mini-excavators and hydraulic excavators up to 100 metric tons capacity. The companies plan to break ground on the first 200,000-square-foot production facility in January of 2012 and begin sales of imported units by April. They expect to begin production by about July 2013.