Clayton, Dubilier & Rice has reached an agreement to acquire John Deere Landscapes, a unit of Deere & Company’s Agriculture & Turf segment. Deere will initially retain a 40% ownership stake in the new standalone company. The carve-out transaction is valued at approximately $465 million. Paul Pressler, a CD&R Operating Partner, will assume the role of Chairman of JDL upon the close of the transaction, expected in December.
John Deere Landscapes (JDL) is the largest North American distributor of landscaping products sold primarily to professional landscape contractors for use in residential and commercial settings. Products include irrigation, landscape lighting, nursery, and turf and maintenance supplies. Some turf and maintenance products are sold under the JDL-owned LESCO brand.
JDL has more than $1 billion in annual revenue and operates over 400 branches in North America with approximately 2,000 employees. JDL is based in Alpharetta, GA (www.johndeerelandscapes.com).
“John Deere Landscapes is a market-leading, branch-based distribution business managed by a talented executive team that we are very excited to have as partners,” said David Wasserman, a CD&R Partner. “The business has many attractive features, including scale, breadth of product offering and service excellence, all of which provide significant strategic and competitive advantages in supporting the requirements of the professional landscape contractor.”
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice focuses on producing financial returns through building stronger more profitable businesses. Since inception, the firm has managed the investment of more than $18 billion in 56 businesses representing a range of industries with an aggregate transaction value of approximately $90 billion. Founded in 1978, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice is based in New York and London (www.cdr-inc.com).
“The new company should benefit from a recovery in residential and commercial construction activity as well as through the meaningful value creation opportunities available to drive the business forward,” said CD&R Partner Ken Giuriceo. “We look forward to working with the JDL management team and Deere to build an even stronger value-added distributor.”
Committed financing for this transaction is being provided by UBS Loan Finance, ING Capital, HSBC Securities (USA), and Natixis.
© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 10-28-13
