Tex,
I've been befuddled by the acquisition. Usually, a big part is to consolidate operations, thus, gaining economies of scale, ie., purchasing, engineering, personnel, consolidating production, etc. But, it appears that wasn't the motivation.
I think you have the best theory so far, assuming TYM couldn't just purchase a license themselves. Or, maybe the cost of the license was not much less than buying Kukje and gaining the hard assets along with the license.
In terms of the $50 M paid for Kukje, the price is usually driven by a multiple of the profits or potential profits as foreseen by the acquiring company. This against the debt that would have to be assumed. Without the financials, we can only speculate.
The other thing I struggle with is that, my perception is that Branson builds a better tractor than TYM, again, just perception. I also don't know what the other parts of Kukje exist, that may have provided an incentive or detracted from the price.