Cookstown-based CDE Group (www.cdegroup.co.uk) — a global mining and quarry industries equipment supplier — has paid an undisclosed sum to purchase the 300,000ft² Caterpillar manufacturing site in Monkstown, Newtownabbey.

The company will take possession of the building in September, when the last Caterpillar workers have been relocated to Caterpillar NI’s Larne facility.

CDE says it will use the Monkstown facility to fabricate and paint complex equipment required to build the components necessary for its world-wide sales operations.

With demand anticipated to double by the end of 2020, this additional facility will complement CDE’s existing Northern Ireland supply base and enhance employment in the area, where a tradition of engineering has existed for more than half a century.

CDE’s director of operations, Stephen McCullough, said: “Our plant will become operational over the next 12 months, and it will result in reduced lead times for projects, which is a key driver for sales.”

Finance director Colin Trainor added: “The efficiencies generated will strengthen the CDE organisation as well as underpin the prospect for employment in the wider area.

“With our new headquarters also completing in the fourth quarter, this is going to be an exciting time for the company, and it will produce high-quality job opportunities.”