Deere Sells 50% Stake in Banco John Deere

On 2025-11-26 Deere & Company sold a 50% stake in Banco John Deere to Banco Bradesco. The move shifts half of ownership in the captive financing arm to a large Brazilian commercial bank and is likely intended to reshape the company's Financial Services footprint and partner strategy. From an investor perspective, changes to ownership of Banco John Deere could influence Deere's exposure to receivables and leasing assets that support equipment sales. Deere's Financial Services (FS) business generated $6,289 million in revenue for FY2025 and manages total receivables and operating lease assets of $56,938 million at FY2025 year-end. FS finances equipment sales via retail notes, leases and revolving accounts; any change in the ownership or structure of a bank tied to those activities may affect capital allocation, risk sharing and local-market funding dynamics.

Deere's FY2025 results show equipment operations net sales of $10,224 million (down 7%) and FS revenue down 3% year-over-year. Receivables by retail segment at FY2025-end included agriculture/turf retail notes of $26,555 million (about 81% of total retail notes) and construction/forestry retail notes of $6,102 million (about 19%). Key risk factors that remain relevant after the transaction: regulatory and legal exposure (including the FTC lawsuit and right-to-repair developments), macroeconomic sensitivity of farm incomes and commodity prices, elevated credit pressures in FS (provision expense was 0.49% of average earning receivables in FY2025 and delinquency rose to 1.05% from 0.98%), and trade/tariff impacts on margins. Investors should consider how a new 50/50 ownership with Banco Bradesco could reallocate credit risk, local funding responsibilities and regulatory oversight in jurisdictions where Banco John Deere operates. Separately, Deere's publicly stated strategic focus on digitalization, automation, autonomy and lifecycle solutions (the company’s refined 'Leap Ambitions') remains a core operational priority; any financing-partner changes should be viewed through the lens of enabling those product and service objectives while managing FS capital and credit exposure.