Agriculture Acquisitions in 2020

Central Garden & Pet has entered into an agreement to acquire Hopewell Nursery, a live goods grower headquartered in Bridgeton, New Jersey. The acquisition expands Central's live goods business and scale in the Northeast; Hopewell operates over 1,800 acres, employs approximately 500 people, and the deal is expected to close December 31, 2020 (terms undisclosed).

GrowGeneration Corp. acquired the assets and product portfolio (including the Power SI brand) of Southern California-based Canopy Crop Management. The acquisition brings founder Rex Gill and proprietary silicic acid formulations into GrowGen as the company pursues private label product development and expanded product offerings for its hydroponic retail chain.

An affiliate of Sun Capital Partners, Inc. has acquired Calcium Products, Inc., a manufacturer of calcium-based fertilizers headquartered in Ames, Iowa. The transaction represents First Capital Partners' exit of its 2013 investment in Calcium Products; Piper Sandler & Co. advised Calcium Products in the sale.

BC Craft Supply Co. Ltd. (CSE: CRFT) has acquired a 100% interest in Olympic View Botanicals Ltd., a Vancouver Island-based micro cannabis cultivator that is building an indoor micro-cultivation facility and applying for a Health Canada Micro Cultivation License. The acquisition adds genetics and processing capacity to BC Craft's supply chain via an existing processing agreement between OVB and Sitka Weed Works Inc.; consideration was paid in BC Craft common shares.

Profile Products, a portfolio company of Incline Equity Partners, has acquired Sunterra Horticulture, a Canadian producer of professional-grade sphagnum peat moss. The deal adds Sunterra’s product lines and manufacturing facilities in Saskatchewan and Manitoba to Profile’s horticulture portfolio, strengthening its supply of critical raw materials for growers and blenders.

Virtual Medical International Inc. agreed to acquire FarmShare, LLC, an industrial hemp cultivation and CBD processing operation based in La Grange, North Carolina, in a transaction composed of stock and cash. The deal comprises 1.5 million shares of common stock plus purchase of existing inventory for $866,750 via a promissory note; Virtual Medical said the acquisition gives it an immediate presence in the southeast U.S. and additional CBD production capacity.

TELUS launched a dedicated TELUS Agriculture business unit and consolidated a suite of agtech acquisitions, including AFS Technologies and Agrian, along with AGIntegrated, Decisive Farming, Farm At Hand, Muddy Boots, TKXS and Feedlot Health Management Solutions. The acquisitions create an integrated digital agriculture offering spanning farm management, precision agronomy, supply-chain and traceability tools, and analytics to optimize the global food value chain.

Kadenwood's EcoGen Biosciences has acquired Colorado-based hemp processor General Processing LLC, adding a 50,000-square-foot production campus in Delta, Colorado and 165 acres of farming land. The deal expands EcoGen's production capacity, brings proprietary sustainable processing IP and advances cGMP (21 CFR Part 111) certification to support domestic and international supply of hemp-derived ingredients and finished products.

FBN Canada, the Canadian unit of Farmer's Business Network (FBN), has acquired Winnipeg-based seed R&D and consulting firm Haplotech Inc. and purchased the Canadian canola breeding program and pipeline from San Diego-based Cibus. The deals expand FBN Canada's seed research and commercialization capabilities, with Haplotech founder Dr. Rale Gjuric leading FBN Canada's Seed R&D team to support eventual commercialization of canola seed in Canada.

Devil Mountain Wholesale Nursery, a San Ramon, California-based wholesale nursery, has acquired BrightView Tree Company of Fillmore, California. The acquisition (terms undisclosed) expands Devil Mountain's footprint into Southern California, adds approximately 800 acres of growing grounds and new product lines (including Swan Hill Olives), and supports its goal of becoming a larger, more comprehensive landscape plant provider in the Western U.S.

On October 9, 2020 Medtainer, Inc. completed an exchange agreement with California-based Advanced Container Technologies, Inc. (ACT) under which ACT shareholders exchanged their ACT shares for 50,000,000 shares of Medtainer, making ACT a wholly owned subsidiary. Following the transaction Medtainer changed its corporate name to Advanced Container Technologies, Inc. and agreed that ACT holds an exclusive U.S. distributorship for GP Solutions’ insulated, food-grade grow-container products.

GRO-WELL Environmental Partners (the parent of GRO-WELL Brands), a portfolio company of GEF Capital Partners, has acquired Pacific Topsoils Inc., a Pacific Northwest supplier of topsoil, bark and landscape construction materials. The acquisition expands GRO-WELL's product and service footprint throughout the Western United States and reinforces its recycling and sustainability capabilities.

Phytech Ltd., an Israeli digital farming and IoT provider, raised $23.5 million in growth funding from funds managed by Thomas H. Lee Partners (including THL Automation Fund L.P.) and existing anchor investors. The capital will be used to accelerate development of irrigation automation capabilities and support Phytech's global market expansion; THL Managing Director Josh Bresler joined Phytech's board as part of the transaction.

Heartwood Partners (Heartwood Partners III, LP) completed an investment in Patten Seed Company (doing business as Super-Sod) on September 18, 2020, providing capital to support the company's next phase of growth. The Patten family and senior management retained a meaningful equity stake; Heartwood intends to support organic growth, technology adoption, and acquisition-driven geographic expansion across the Southeastern U.S.

Midwestern BioAg Holdings LLC, a special purpose acquisition vehicle formed by Skyline Global Partners, has acquired Midwestern BioAg Inc. and provided significant additional capital. Michael Birger was named President and CEO as the company transitions ownership to support growth and expand its sustainable biological agriculture offerings.

South Mill Champs has acquired Loveday Mushroom Farms, integrating the Winnipeg-based mushroom grower and composter into its North American operations to boost production and distribution capacity. The deal expands South Mill Champs' fresh supply chain reach into the Canadian Midwest and supports planned compost and mushroom expansion to serve retail and foodservice customers more efficiently.

Orchard & Vineyard Supply (OVS), a portfolio company of Clearview Capital Fund III, has acquired Cascade Water Systems Corp., with the related Ridgway Supply Company included in the transaction; the deal closed July 3, 2020. Paul Ridgway, Cascade's founder, retains an ownership stake and joins OVS as Senior Director of Pump Systems Design & Sales, strengthening OVS's irrigation and pumping capabilities across the Pacific Northwest.

Lindsay Corporation has acquired Net Irrigate, LLC and will integrate the company's remote irrigation monitoring devices and reporting software into its FieldNET brand. The acquisition expands Lindsay's IoT and remote irrigation management capabilities to help growers and government customers improve water and energy efficiency.

Wheatsheaf Group Limited, the food and agriculture investment arm of the Grosvenor Estate, acquired Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies Inc. in an all-cash transaction. The acquisition is intended to provide capital and expertise to scale Ostara's Pearl nutrient recovery facilities and Crystal Green fertilizer business, supporting international growth and expanded deployment of its water-treatment and nutrient-recovery technologies.

Wind Point Partners’ portfolio company Pestell Nutrition acquired Origination O2D (O2D) on December 20, 2019. The add-on transaction expands Pestell Nutrition’s U.S. footprint, logistical capabilities and proprietary product portfolio to accelerate growth in the North American animal nutrition market.

Bolthouse Farms has entered into an agreement to acquire the carrot operations of Arizona-based Rousseau Farming Company. The deal expands Bolthouse's regional growing footprint into Arizona to better serve customers in the Southwest while Rousseau retains ownership of its other produce operations; terms were not disclosed.

Generation Hemp, Inc. has signed definitive agreements to acquire 100% of the assets/ownership interest of Halcyon Thruput, LLC for approximately $5.1 million (paid $2.5M in restricted common stock and $2.6M in cash), with additional contingent consideration payable to the parent OZC Agriculture Ky, LP. Halcyon operates a 48,000 sq. ft. hemp post‑harvest facility in Hopkinsville, Kentucky (processing ~10,000 wet pounds/hour) and projects about $10 million revenue for calendar year 2020; the co‑founders will remain as employees under multi‑year agreements.

Mann Lake Ltd. (based in Hackensack, Minnesota) has acquired Stromberg's Unlimited, a long-running supplier of live poultry and poultry equipment. The acquisition expands Mann Lake’s product offering and reach into the growing backyard poultry market; Eric Stromberg joined Mann Lake as Director of Poultry following the deal.

S&S Seeds, a market leader in native seed for reclamation projects in California and the western United States, has acquired Granite Seed, a portfolio company of Marwit Capital. The acquisition expands S&S's geographic footprint into the Intermountain West and combines Granite Seed's vertically integrated seed production, cleaning/blending and erosion-control capabilities with S&S's existing operations; Granite Seed's senior management will remain with the combined entity.

G-Mac's AgTeam LP has entered into an agreement to merge Cavalier Agrow Ltd. into G-Mac's AgTeam, creating a combined business that will operate 14 locations across Saskatchewan and employ approximately 130 people. Cavalier shareholders received equity in G-Mac's AgTeam as consideration, and the transaction was supported by local investors Golden Opportunities Fund Inc. and Westcap Mgt. Ltd.

Pittsburgh-based private equity firm Incline Equity Partners has acquired BFG Supply, a distributor of horticulture and lawn & garden consumable products, from Parallel49 Equity. BFG, headquartered in Burton, Ohio, supplies professional growers and retail garden centers and will partner with Incline to pursue geographic and product expansion and strategic add-on acquisitions.

Golden Triangle Ventures, Inc. completed the acquisition of a 51% stake in HyFrontier Technologies, Inc., the developer of the patent-pending HyGrO molecular hydrogen and oxygen delivery system for agriculture. Golden Triangle will support commercialization, manufacturing and marketing of the HyGrO unit for farm and home use to drive crop-yield improvements and broader applications.