[MSN] Caterpillar Inc. said Tuesday it will move its global headquarters from Illinois to an existing divisional office in Irving, Texas, in the Dallas-Forth Worth area, in another blow to the Chicago area, which last month lost the Boeing Co. headquarters.The move is "in the best strategic interest of the company," Chief Executive Jim Umpleby said in a statement. The heavy-machinery maker has had a presence in Texas since the 1960s, it said.
Even with the move, Illinois has the largest concentration of Caterpillar employees anywhere in the world, the company said. The headquarters was historically in downstate Peoria, Ill., before a move to the Chicago suburb of Deerfield, in 2017.
Caterpillar said it will begin the relocation this year, without proving further details.
Boeing in May said it was moving its global headquarters to Arlington, Va., outside Washington, D.C., promising to keep a "significant presence" in Chicago, where it moved in 2001 from Seattle.
Texas also welcomed Tesla Inc. headquarters last year, with Chief Executive Elon Musk blaming the San Francisco Bay Area’s lack of affordable housing for the move. Tesla was headquartered in Palo Alto, in the heart of Silicon Valley.
Musk had said in 2020 he had moved to Texas, saying that Silicon Valley has had "too much influence in the world."
Shares of Caterpillar fell 0.4% in midday trading Tuesday. The stock has lost about 0.3% so far this year, contrasting with losses of more than 21% for the S&P 500.