Suba Seeds USA, a subsidiary of Suba Seeds Group BV, a specialty vegetable and legume seed producer and a portfolio company of Paine & Partners, has acquired Brotherton Seed Company.
Brotherton Seed is a breeder and producer of pea and bean seeds used by commercial customers in the North American pea and bean processing market. The company operates two production facilities –one each in Moses Lake, WA and Quincy, WA, and maintains a network of thousands of acres of seed growers across the Pacific Northwest. Brotherton Seed was founded in 1936 and is headquartered in Moses Lake, WA (www.brothertonseed.com).
With the closing of this acquisition, Jerome Brotherton – the managing director of Brotherton Seed – will become a full-time consultant to the company under Suba’s ownership, and Brotherton’s entire management team will join Suba.
“The acquisition of Brotherton Seed is a great next step for Suba as it looks to expand its presence and products in the growing global market for specialty vegetable seed,” said Angelos Dassios, a partner at Paine & Partners.
Suba is a producer, packer and distributor of specialty vegetable seeds and is the world’s leading producer of cilantro. The company’s portfolio of crops – supplied through a network of more than 1,000 growers – includes beans, peas, radish, cabbage, alfalfa, carrots, chicory and onion. Suba is a contract supplier to major seed companies and also sells to the professional, semi-professional and hobby garden markets. The company was founded in 1974 by Augusto Suzzi and is headquartered southeast of Bologna in Longiano, Italy (www.subaseeds.com).
“The acquisition of Brotherton Seed further expands both Suba’s presence in the US market and its position in large seed vegetable production, globally,” said Marcello Tumedei, Chief Executive Officer of Suba. “We see significant growth potential in this combination, driven by cross selling and production opportunities, both by leveraging the expanded grower network and through expanding Suba’s offering to its international customer base.”
Paine & Partners acquired Suba Seeds in October 2015. The firm has previously invested in the seed industry through a predecessor fund that invested in Seminis – a developer, producer and marketer of vegetable and fruit seeds that was sold to Monsanto in 2005; and in Advanta – an agronomic seed company that was sold in 2006 to United Phosphorus.
Paine & Partners provides equity capital for management buyouts, going private transactions, and company expansion and growth programs, for companies operating in the food and agribusiness industries. The firm is currently investing through its $893 million Paine & Partners Fund IV, which is solely dedicated to agribusiness investing. Paine & Partners was founded in 2006 and has offices in New York, Chicago and San Mateo, CA (www.painepartners.com).
© 2016 Private Equity Professional • 7-15-16
