Wilson Orchard & Vineyard Supply (Wilson), a portfolio company of Clearview Capital, has merged with Oregon Vineyard Supply (OVS).
Clearview Capital acquired Wilson in December 2016 through its third fund. The management teams of both Wilson and OVS remain as equity owners in the combined company alongside Clearview.
Oregon Vineyard Supply, known as OVS, is a provider of vineyard and agricultural supplies, equipment and services to growers of grapes, berries, nuts, hops and orchard fruit. The company, founded in 1985 and ESOP owned since 2008, has seven locations in Oregon and Washington. OVS is led by CEO Matt Novak and is based south of Portland in McMinnville, OR (www.ovs.com).
Wilson Orchard & Vineyard Supply is a distributor of irrigation, planting, development, and harvesting equipment and supplies to commercial orchards and vineyards in the Western United States. Wilson also operates an e-commerce platform that sells products to growers nationwide (www.orchardvalleysupply.com). The company was founded in 1988 and has ten locations in Washington, Oregon, California and New York with a headquarters in Yakima, WA (www.wilsonirr.com).
“OVS represents Clearview’s first acquisition of an ESOP-owned company. It was a learning process for us, as this ownership structure brings a set of unique challenges and opportunities. The OVS team was great to work with throughout the process. We would welcome the opportunity to work on more situations like this one in the future,” said Calvin Neider, managing partner and co-founder of Clearview Capital.
“We have always admired OVS as a highly complementary player in our market, and are thrilled to join forces with them and offer a broader array of solutions to our customers, becoming even more of a one-stop shop,” said Joe Perry, Wilson’s CEO. “For example, OVS offers valuable agronomic solutions that we haven’t offered before. And its vineyard management division, Results Partners, is very highly regarded. On the other hand, OVS hasn’t offered irrigation products and solutions before so that is an offering we will be able to deliver to their customers. Our overlap is minimal but our opportunities are plenty.”
The combined company will go to market as OVS, which will stand for Orchard & Vineyard Supply, and will soon be introducing a new logo. The senior managers of both organizations will remain in place.
“Wilson’s merger with OVS caps a terrific year in which Wilson also completed three tuck-in acquisitions, established one de novo location, and made significant investments in personnel and infrastructure,” said Matt Rumilly, a partner at Clearview. “We’re very proud of what the team has accomplished, and we’re also very excited to begin working with Matt Novak and the OVS team, which has produced outstanding results as well.”
The three add-on acquisitions completed by Wilson in 2018 were Valley Vineyard, a Lodi, CA-based manufacturer of trellising equipment; Quantum Irrigation, a Lodi, CA-based designer and installer of irrigation systems and a distributor of irrigation equipment and supplies; and Trinity Valley Supply (DBA Orchard Valley Supply) an E-commerce distributor of orchard and vineyard supplies.
Clearview Capital invests from $8 million to $50 million of equity in companies that have from $3 million to $15 million of EBITDA. Sectors of interest include business services, healthcare services, manufacturing, and specialized distribution. The firm was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Stamford, CT with an additional office in Los Angeles (www.ClearviewCap.com).
Wilson is a platform investment of Clearview Capital Fund III LP which had a final closing in June 2013 with $325 million of committed capital.
© 2019 Private Equity Professional | January 30, 2019
