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Scotts Miracle-Gro to sell its global professional business to ICL
Scotts Miracle-Gro has received a binding offer from Israel-based ICL to acquire the shares and substantially all the assets of Scotts Miracle-Gro’s Global Professional business for $270 million (U.S.), subject to certain adjustments at closing, in an all-cash transaction. The Global Professional business markets professional products to commercial greenhouses and nurseries for ornamental horticulture; sports fields, golf courses and public parks for professional turf applications; and specialty agriculture in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. The proposed sale is expected to close in Scotts’ second quarter of fiscal 2011, subject to regulatory review and the satisfaction of certain conditions, including works council and employee consultation. Scotts intends to apply net proceeds of the sale toward capital investments and debt retirement.
Land auction marks end of Carolina Nurseries
Carolina Nurseries in Moncks Corner, S.C., was sold to a North Charleston industrial conglomerate that has no interest in maintaining it as a plant farm, The Post and Courier reported in December. ZZ Acquisitions LLC, an affiliate of The InterTech Group Inc., acquired the 686-acre property during a public auction at the Berkeley County Courthouse after no one stepped forward to outbid the debt it was owed by the nearly century-old business. The once-thriving business was unable to repay the loan or find other financial backers, so the lender foreclosed on the property. After the gavel fell, nursery president J. Guy said, “We're closed.” He referred other questions to the new owner as he left the courtroom.
Insight Equity acquires assets of The Berry Family of Nurseries
Insight Equity II LP (www.insightequity.com), a Dallas-based private equity fund, announced in December its acquisition of a controlling interest in BFN Operations LLC, which purchased substantially all of the operating assets of the Berry Family of Nurseries, including Tri-B, Zelenka, Judkins and Zelenka West nurseries.
BFN is now one of the nation’s largest wholesale growers of perennial and woody ornamental plants, according to a company statement. BFN serves both big-box retail stores and independent nurseries from its thirteen growing facilities throughout the United States.
We believe this transaction positions BFN to succeed and grow while maintaining a commitment to delivering excellent customer service and superior quality," said Bob Berry, CEO of BFN.
Buyers gear up for National Lawn & Garden Show
The 2011 National Lawn & Garden Show will take place June 14-16 at the Chicago O’Hare- Crowne Plaza Hotel and Conference Center. Like its predecessors, the 17th annual NLGS features guaranteed, pre-set appointments between qualified, decision-making buyers and manufacturers. As a result, every lead is genuine; every appointment is a new opportunity to find products and services that can set a garden center apart from the competition.
“NLGS is known in the lawn and garden industry for offering the most organized and productive model for conducting business,” said the show’s president Bob Mikulas. “NLGS buyers must meet high-volume buying requirements in order to participate in the event. Vendors pay a fee for guaranteed pre-set, scheduled appointments with buyers of their choice.”
The format works like this:
- Buyers select the product categories they are interested in, which determines the sellers they can choose to see.
- Appointments are scheduled in advance by a proprietary automated appointment program based on matching product categories, so the buyers and sellers will only see companies that have selected their respective product categories.
- Appointment schedules are distributed to buyers and sellers.
- Buyers are assigned conference tables;sellers follow their schedule and move from table to table.
- Each appointment is 10 minutes in length, and voice prompts over the PA system keep the appointments running smoothly.
- If a buyer and a seller wish to meet longer, “Bonus Time” is set aside each day to facilitate a second (or third) meeting.
An exclusive POP area that features new products is also set up at the show for “any time” browsing by the garden center operators. For more information, visit www.nlgshow.com.
Keep America Beautiful and Department of Agriculture team up to grow nearly 700 People’s Gardens
Keep America Beautiful (KAB) affiliate organizations have responded to the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) call to action in sustaining nearly 700 community gardens this past year as partners in the USDA’s People’s Garden Initiative.
“Real and effective change starts small and it starts in our communities,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “With the help of Keep America Beautiful we can ensure that the ideas behind the People’s Garden are adopted and improved upon in communities across the country.”
Secretary Vilsack and People’s Garden director Livia Marques invited Keep America Beautiful to join this sustainable garden movement at KAB’s 2009 National Conference in Washington, D.C. Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s largest community improvement network, responded by engaging nearly 200 of its national network of affiliates in this effort.
The People’s Gardens program was launched by Secretary Vilsack on Feb. 12, 2009, to commemorate the bicentennial of President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. The initiative is an effort by the USDA to challenge its employees to establish People’s Gardens at USDA facilities or help communities create gardens through collaborative efforts. Each ‘People’s Garden’ can vary in size and type, but they must include the following three components:
- Benefit the Community: Gardens benefit communities in many different ways. They can create spaces for leisure or recreation that the public can use, provide a harvest to a local food bank, be a wildlife friendly landscape, or be a rain garden to absorb storm water run-off and protect the soil from erosion.
- Be Collaborative: The garden must be created and maintained by a partnership of local individuals, groups, or organizations.
- Incorporate Sustainable Practices: The garden must include gardening practices that nurture, maintain and protect the environment such as:
- Capturing rainwater
- Composting and mulching
- Planting native species
- Encouraging beneficial insects
Monrovia faces pressure to book $20 million by Jan. 31
Monrovia, headquartered in Azusa, Calif., is facing pressure from lenders to book $20 million in business by Jan. 31. This development prompted the grower to send a letter to customers in December detailing the company's struggle and encouraging retailers to add to spring bookings. A separate letter signed by dozens of garden centers pledging support was also passed along to customers. In an interview with Garden Center, Monrovia CEO Miles R. Rosedale said he is “humbled” by the outpouring of support from garden retailers. “One message we are trying to get out to our retailers,” Rosedale said, “is that we certainly appreciate them, but we're not asking them to pull orders from other growers.” Instead, Rosedale encourages retail customers to add items to current orders and pass the savings to end customers.
 ‘Honeysuckle’ is Pantone’s 2011 Color of the Year
Pantone, a provider of professional color standards for the design industries, announced PANTONE 18-2120 Honeysuckle, a vibrant, energetic hue, as the color of the year for 2011 “In times of stress, we need something to lift our spirits. Honeysuckle is a captivating, stimulating color that gets the adrenaline going – perfect to ward off the blues,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. “Honeysuckle derives its positive qualities from a powerful bond to its mother color red, the most physical, viscerally alive hue in the spectrum.”
Home & Garden Showplace partners with American Nursery and Landscape Association
Home & Garden Showplace, the garden center division of True Value Company, and the American Nursery & Landscape Association (ANLA) announced a new partnership in December. Beginning in 2011, ANLA will offer H&GS retailers many of the benefits enjoyed by its members. Benefits include full access to the ANLA’s online Knowledge Center. Also, H&GS retailers are granted reduced member pricing to the 2011 ANLA Management Clinic, a four-day event held in Louisville, Ky.
“We are proud to welcome Home & Garden Showplace members to our ANLA retail community,” said Bob Lyons, ANLA president and owner of Sunleaf Nursery LLP, based in Madison, Ohio. “Our industry is facing the most challenging economic, legislative and regulatory environment many of us have ever seen, and we applaud Home & Garden Showplace’s vision to help bring the industry together to protect our shared future.”
Home & Garden Showplace represents 220 retail locations in the U.S. All stores are locally owned, independent garden centers that make up the largest garden center cooperative in the country.
Fed proposal would slash debit-card fees
Last month, the Federal Reserve proposed rules that could cut debit-card transaction fees by 84 percent, Bloomberg.com reported. The Fed proposed capping so-called interchange fees at 12 cents each. Currently, the networks charge merchants an average of 1 percent of the purchase price, regardless of cost, and pass that money to banks that issue cards. The National Retail Federation welcomed the proposed regulations, which would result in “reasonable” swipe fees for debit cards, according to the association. NRF added that significant reduction in the fees would result in lower costs for merchants and could lead to discounts for their customers. The proposed regulations will be subject to a 60-day comment period, and the Fed is scheduled to issue a final version by April 21, 2011, with the rule going into effect June 21, 2011.
Proven Winners to host four Outdoor Living Extravaganzas in 2011
Gardeners are invited to attend Proven Winners’ Outdoor Living Extravaganzas in spring 2011.
- March 4, Atlanta
- March 18, Seattle
- April 8, Milwaukee
- April 15, Toronto
The day-long event (8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.) includes a catered luncheon and special gift bags. Attendees will learn from four experts about creative new ways to use color, the easiest ways to grow plant varieties, how to put together exceptional containers and more. For more information and to register for the event, visit www.provenwinners.com.
Espoma sprouts new energy source
The Espoma Co. recently unveiled a $2.5 million solar-energy installation covering nearly 43,000 square-feet of its warehouse rooftops. The system will save more than 1.4 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions annually at the company’s Millville, N.J., headquarters. “In terms of reducing carbon dioxide,” said Espoma vice president Jeremy Brunner, “this is the equivalent of planting nearly 1.7 million trees.” Espoma Company offers a complete selection of natural plant foods, lawn foods, control products, and potting mixes that are available nationwide.
Click here to see the events calendar. |
