Heartwood Partners has acquired NativeSeed Group, a provider of seeds and erosion control products.
NativeSeed’s products are used in land reclamation and conservation, and in construction, commercial, and consumer applications. The company’s brand names include Granite Seed, S&S Seeds, Pacific Coast Seed, Kamprath Seed, Bruce Seed and Nature’s Seed. The customers of the company include federal and state government agencies, contractors and hydro-seeders, Fortune 500 corporations, landscape architects, non-governmental organizations, ranchers and small landowners.
NativeSeed is led by CEO Rob Wendell and operates a vertically integrated sourcing and production platform comprised of farming, wildland collection, procurement of native grass, wildflower, and shrub seeds, as well as seed cleaning and conditioning facilities. The company operates four seed farms – with 4,000 irrigated acres – including Bruce Seed Farm in Montana, L&H Seed Farm in Washington, Hedgerow Farms in northern California, and S&S Seed Farm in southern California.
“We are excited to partner with the Heartwood team given their experience investing in agriculture-related businesses and strong track record in growing niche businesses,” said Mr. Wendell. “We believe that Heartwood’s operational expertise and industry experience will be key in refining and executing our strategic growth plan.”
“We are excited to partner with NativeSeed and its management team,” said James Sidwa, a partner at Heartwood. “The company has developed a highly differentiated, vertically integrated platform to provide solutions for its customers to help establish native plant communities that are appropriate for their local geographies and climates. Native plant communities are hearty, more drought tolerant, promote diverse habitats, and help restore lands damaged by development or natural disasters.”
NativeSeed was founded by Victor Schaff nearly 50 years ago as S&S Seeds and is headquartered 85 miles northwest of Los Angeles in Carpinteria, California. Since its founding, the company has grown both organically and through acquisition.
“NativeSeed is a perfect fit with our focus and experience investing in the agriculture sector and companies with strong ESG foundations as well as our approach towards growth through investment in people, processes, and add-on acquisitions,” added Mr. Sidwa. “We intend to drive future growth by leveraging the company’s strong market position to expand existing and new geographies and customer types both organically and through strategic add-on acquisitions.”
Connecticut-based Heartwood invests in United States-based companies that have revenues from $30 million to $400 million and EBITDA between $5 million to $30 million. Sectors of interest include value-added distributors, food, chemical, consumer products, and business service companies.
NativeSeed was acquired by Heartwood through its fourth fund, Heartwood Partners Fund IV LP, which has not yet held a final close but is targeting $700 million of capital. The firm’s third fund, Heartwood Partners III LP, closed with $600 million in capital in September 2020. The Norwalk, Connecticut-based firm was founded as Capital Partners in 1982 and changed its name to Heartwood Partners in September 2020.
© 2023 Private Equity Professional | March 29, 2023
