July 30, 2018

Agribusiness giant Limoneira continues its path of expansion with its latest acquisition of Oxnard Lemon Associates in Oxnard, California, for an undisclosed amount.

Founded 125 years ago and headquartered in Santa Paula, California. Limoneira has grown into an international integrated agribusiness leader with 14,500 acres of agricultural land, water rights, and real estate in California, Arizona, and Chile, and is a top producer of lemons, avocados, oranges, specialty citrus, and other crops.

The addition of Oxnard will bring to Limoneira one of the leading full-time lemon packing companies in the U.S., including a line of organic and specialty citrus. Oxnard’s assets include a packing house and related equipment on 13 acres, strategically located less than a mile from the Port of Hueneme. Being situated adjacent to Limoneira’s headquarters in Santa Paula will create packing efficiencies upon the combination of the two companies which will also double Limoneira’s storage capacity, and will add packing capacity of 4 million cartons per year to Limoneira’s operations.

“We are very excited about Oxnard Lemon joining the Limoneira family. Oxnard Lemon has built a sterling reputation within the lemon industry and is at the forefront of the organic and specialty citrus movement in California,” said Harold Edwards, president and CEO, Limoneira.

The deal will create a new Oxnard Division within the Linomeira business, and results of the division will be included in Limoneira’s consolidated results of operations from the date of final closing beginning November 1, 2018. For the purpose of allowing Oxnard Lemon to satisfy pre-existing sourcing obligations, under the terms of the deal, Limoneira has agreed to a sale-leaseback agreement extending through October of this year, meaning that Oxnard will have marginal impact on Limoneira’s numbers for this year.

“By combining our two facilities under the Limoneira platform, we will create significant efficiencies that will position us for continued sustainable long-term growth while delivering on our promise of superior grower returns and customer service through our One World of Citrus™ initiative,” said Edwards. “Our pipeline of potential acquisitions remains robust and we will continue to seek value-enhancing transactions for our shareholders.”

Expansion

This deal for Oxnard Lemon is the latest for Limoneira since it launched its  One World Citrus™ marketing scheme to pack and sell citrus fruit both domestically in Chile and abroad. Recent acquisitions by the company include the purchase of a 90 percent stake in Pan de Azucar S.A. (PDA) – a Chilean citrus producer with 210 acres of lemon and orange orchards near La Serena, Chile – and an equity interest in Rosales S.A., a citrus packing, marketing, and sales operation also located in La Serena, for $5.8 million in cash in March of last year.

In April of the previous year, the company announced its expansion into South Africa through the launch of Limoneira South Africa. This venture was built through a partnership called Real Citrus with Re:inc that was launched to oversee packing and sales on the African continent

Most recently, only earlier this month, Limoneira completed the acquisition of Fruticola San Pablo S.A. in Chile’s northern Coquimbo region announced in June.  The two parcels totaling 3,317 acres included in the sale consist of 247 acres of lemon orchards, 41 acres of orange orchards, and the potential to expand lemon acreage by 120 acres, while also having the potential for 500 acres of avocado production.

“We have known the management team at San Pablo for many years and are very excited to leverage our current assets to expand production and distribution within Chile and throughout the world,” said Alex Teague, senior vice president, Limoneira.

A similar course of action is targeted in regard to Oxnard as well, according to Amy Fukutomi, principal partner in Oxnard Lemon, who said, “This exciting milestone will allow growers to leverage Limoneira’s growing global footprint in the fresh citrus industry and maximize their returns. We look forward to a bright future together.”

-Lynda Kiernan