WesTrac defies slowdown to build Chinese operation WESTRAC, part of Kerry Stokes's Seven Group, has shaken off concerns about the mining industy's slowdown to pay $140 million to expand its Caterpillar dealership footprint in north-eastern China in a deal to be funded by a new debt facility. The previously flagged acquisition of the distribution and support business is a spillover from Caterpillar's $US8.8 billion acquisition of the mining and earthmoving manufacturer Bucyrus in 2010. It follows on from the 2012 deal under which WesTrac paid $US400m for the former Bucyrus distribution and support business in Western Australia, NSW and Canberra.