The Salford Group, a portfolio company of GenNx360 Capital Partners, has acquired Valmar Airflo, a maker of granular application equipment used in the agricultural a sector.
Valmar designs and manufactures granular applicators for fertilizer, herbicide, insecticide, seed, seed inoculants and forage preservatives. The company’s products are used by farm producers, commercial operators and agriculture research specialists. Valmar operates a 30,000 square feet manufacturing plant and a 12,000 square feet research and development building on 12 acres. The company was founded in 1977 by Charles Balmer and is based 25 miles west of Winnipeg in Elie, Manitoba (www.valmar.com).
Salford Group, which was acquired by GenNx360 in December 2013, designs and manufactures tillage, seeding and fertilizing equipment for the agricultural industry. Products include non-powered farm implements, including primary tillage, secondary tillage, seeding and fertilizing equipment.
The buy of Valmar expands Salford’s product line which now includes: primary, secondary, and vertical tillage, air seeders, commodity carts, cover crop seeders, spinner-type fertilizer spreaders, air-boom applicators and granular applicators for fertilizer, insecticide, seed, seed inoculants and forage preservatives.
Salford sells its products through a global dealer network and also serves European markets as part of a joint venture in Russia. Worldwide, the company has over 180,000 square feet of manufacturing space. Salford was founded in 1978 by Jake Rozendaal and is headquartered 100 miles southwest of Toronto in Salford, ON (www.salfordgroup.com).
Matt Guenther, a GenNx360 Partner, led the transaction. “This acquisition, the second add-on completed since our investment in Salford, further strengthens the GenNx360 agricultural investment platform as Salford continues to extend its footprint and market presence through product and geographic expansion,” said Mr. Guenther.
In October 2014, Salford’s first add-on was BBI Spreaders, a designer, manufacturer and marketer of granular material application equipment sold to the agriculture, construction, and golf sectors. The company is headquartered northeast of Atlanta in Cornelia, GA (www.bbispreaders.com).
GenNx360 Capital Partners is a private equity firm focused on investing in industrial business-to-business companies in the middle market. Sectors of interest include aerospace & defense; automotive; building products; food & agriculture; healthcare; metals & mining; oil & gas and power; packaging, specialty chemicals; and transportation. GenNx360 was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in New York with an additional office in Boston (www.gennx360.com).
2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 5-11-15
