Kubota Confirms Death of Its President/Chairman

Yasuo Masumoto, chairman and president of farm and industrial machinery maker Kubota Corp., died while staying in a Tokyo hotel. He was 67.

The executive failed to leave his room after breakfast and was found collapsed in the bathroom after the company raised concerns, a spokeswoman for the Osaka-based manufacturer said. At press time, the cause of death had not yet been determined.

Vice President Masatoshi Kimata took over as acting president, the spokeswoman said. Kyodo News reported the death earlier.

Masumoto joined Kubota in April 1971, rose to the rank of president in 2009, and became chairman two years later, according to Bloomberg. The equipment maker’s shares more than doubled with Masumoto at the helm.

He oversaw Kubota’s purchase of Norway’s Kverneland ASA, which was completed in May 2012. In a 2013 interview with Bloomberg, Masumoto said the company was seeking acquisitions, had approached targets that own large tractors and aimed to close a deal by the end of the year.

Kubota, which specializes in smaller tractors and combines for wet paddy fields, plans to add large tractors powerful enough to plow big fields of wheat and corn—a market dominated by Deere & Co., CNH Global NV and Agco Corp.