Caterpillar Buys Fabick Cat, Ending 109 Years of Family Ownership
Pictured Above: A composite of Fabick’s early Gravois location and the entrance to its Fenton headquarters. Fabick occupied 3100 Gravois Avenue from 1941 to 1973, according to Advanced Environmental Services, which later restored the building and now occupies it.
Date Posted: September 30, 2026
Posted In: Organizations, People, What we are thinking about,
For generations of St. Louis contractors, the Fabick name has been as familiar as the yellow Cat equipment it supplied. Now, a proposed Caterpillar acquisition of Fabick Cat is poised to end 109 years of family ownership.
Caterpillar announced Sept. 29 that it has agreed to acquire John Fabick Tractor Company, the Fenton-based dealership operating as Fabick Cat. The transaction is expected to close within 30 days, subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The announcement follows years of conflict over leadership and ownership within the Fabick family, adding a difficult final chapter to the independent ownership of a company deeply woven into the region’s construction history.
John Fabick Sr. founded the business in 1917 with three employees and a small store on South Grand Avenue. It initially sold Cletrac crawler tractors and John Deere farm implements, adding C.L. Best tractors in 1921. Best and Holt merged in 1925 to create Caterpillar, beginning the dealership’s next chapter.
Many St. Louisans associate the company’s early years with its substantial brick headquarters at 3100 Gravois Avenue. That building was a later home: its current occupant, Advanced Environmental Services, dates Fabick’s occupancy to 1941–1973. Fabick moved its headquarters to Fenton in 1972.
Part of Missouri’s Growth
As Missouri grew, Fabick helped equip the contractors doing the work. The Missouri Chamber’s centennial history credits equipment supplied by the dealership with its role in building the Gateway Arch, Bagnell Dam, and the interstate highway system. The 2015 merger with Milwaukee-based FABCO brought two independently operated Fabick family dealerships together under one name.
Today, Fabick operates 37 locations serving portions of Missouri and Illinois, all of Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The St. Louis Business Journal reports approximately 1,420 employees companywide, including 550 in the St. Louis area, and 2025 revenue of $1.4 billion. Fabick CAT
That revenue illustrates the dealership’s scale. It is equivalent to approximately 4.3% of Caterpillar’s $32.88 billion in U.S. sales and revenues in 2025.
The acquisition also represents a departure from Caterpillar’s predominantly independent dealership model. A local CAT sign generally identifies an independently owned dealer rather than a manufacturer-owned branch. Caterpillar reported 150 dealers worldwide at year-end 2025, including 41 in the United States.
Acquisition Settles Family Dispute
The ownership transition follows a bitter family dispute. According to the Business Journal, Doug Fabick was removed as CEO and dealer principal in 2022 and succeeded by his cousin, Jeré Fabick. In March 2024, a St. Louis County judge ordered Doug to sell his voting shares under an agreement requiring that sale once he ceased being dealer principal. The ruling did not address the nonvoting shares in which Doug had previously reported a 63% ownership interest.
Caterpillar’s announcement does not identify that dispute as the reason for the acquisition. Instead, it emphasizes continuity of service and local customer support.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the Fabick team to build on a century of success,” Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Joe Creed said.