BC Partners will buy Dümmen Orange

BC Partners plans to sign a deal with Dümmen Orange to become the new majority shareholder of the Dutch flower breeding company, both companies reported on Friday. 

 

Final closing of the deal is subject to regulatory approvals, and is expected in the coming months, according to a press release.

 

Reuters reports the deal valuing at around $567.65 million, including debt.

 

“The new majority shareholder – BC Partners – is a well-respected and distinguished Private Equity company with a hands on business approach,” said Biense Visser, CEO of Dümmen Orange in a press release from the company. “Their track record as an investor is successful. They have supported many companies in reaching their full potential. As management, we have built a good understanding with them during the last period and we are pleased to see that their trust in our company is big. BC Partners will support Dümmen Orange to further grow and professionalize the company in line with the chosen strategy.”

 

BC Partnership will have 80-percent ownership of the company, Dümmen Orange will remain ownership of 20 percent, said Dümmen Orange’s Operations Director for North America Kate Santos in an email interview with GIE Media. The deal will close in approximately six to eight weeks, she said.

 

“The Members of the Board will continue in their present role as invested managers,” Santos reported. “These managers and leaders of Dümmen Orange have reinvested the vast majority of their proceeds from this transaction. They behave just like entrepreneurs in many other private companies: They put their money where their mouth is.”

 

Santos said H2, Dümmen Orange’s current investment partner, had been planning to sell its ownership of the breeder over the past couple years. “2015 brought interest from a number of private equity firms to Dümmen Orange and this opportunity with BC Partners moved forward when all parties involved felt that both the timing and companies were aligned for mutual benefit,” she said.

 

The partnership will not disrupt how growers, brokers and retailers interact with Dümmen Orange, Santos said, and there is no plan to alter the overall strategic plan of the company. “Our mission and our teams remain unchanged and our focus is stronger than ever to provide quality, reliable and innovative products and services to our customers in the upcoming 2016 season,” she said.