Platte River Equity announced it has acquired Tiger-Sul Products, a global provider of Sulphur fertilizers and crop performance chemicals, in partnership with the company’s existing management for an undisclosed amount.
Under the terms of the deal the selling party, H.J. Baker & Bro., Inc, which has owned Tiger-Sul since 2005, will retain ownership of a minority stake in the company. Tiger-Sul’s headquarters will remain in Shelton, Connecticut and operations will continue from the company’s existing processing plants, offices, and warehouses located in Atmore, Alabama, Stockton, California, Alberta, Canada, and Shanghai, China.
“For more than 50 years, Tiger-Sul has been providing farmers around the globe with high quality sulphur bentonite and micronutrient fertilizers, pushing the boundaries of innovation in the industry,” said Don Cherry, CEO of Tiger-Sul in a company statement. “Platte River has the resources and experience to help us accelerate the Company’s growth in the global market.”
Based in Denver, Colorado, Platte River Equity pursues investments of between $20 million and $80 million in companies operating in the lower middle market with enterprise values ranging from $40 million to $250 million. Having raised more than $700 million in committed capital to date, the firm focuses on investments in aerospace and transportation, agriculture, chemicals, metals and minerals, energy, and industrial products and services.
The deal for Tiger-Sul was made through a commitment of capital through Platte River’s third fund, Platte River Equity III L.P, which closed in 2012 at a hard cap of $405 million.
Monsanto Approves M&A
This deal for Tiger-Sul follows on a string of mergers and acquisitions in the agricultural chemical and seed sector that have been driven by the need to achieve scale and expand sales networks amid multiple years of low commodity prices and farm incomes being under pressure.
One day after the announcement of the Tiger-Sul acquisition, Monsanto announced that its shareholders overwhelmingly voted to approve the company’s pending $66 billion acquisition by Bayer AG.
“We are pleased we received such strong support from our shareowners,” said Hugh Grant, Monsanto Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
“The acquisition of Monsanto is driven by our strong belief that this combination can help address the growing challenges facing farmers and the overall agriculture industry today and in the future,” said Werner Baumann, CEO of Bayer AG.
If the deal closes as scheduled by the end of 2017, it would create a mega-company controlling more than a quarter of the global market for seeds and pesticides.
Other recent deals within the ag chem space include a $130 billion all stock, 50/50 mega-merger between Dow Chemical and DuPont that would form DowDuPont – a chemical company that would be second in the world only to BASF, ChemChina’s $43 billion all cash takeover bid for Syngenta AG, the acquisition of Denmark’s Cheminova by FMC Corp for $1.8 billion in cash, and Lariat Partner’s acquisition of a stake in generic crop protection company, Willowood USA in exchange for a “significant investment.”
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Lynda Kiernan