Lariat Partners made an undisclosed “significant investment” in crop protection company Willowood USA. Willowood CEO Brian Heinze says the investment will expand the company’s geographic presence “in markets that we have not yet penetrated.”
Willowood based in Roseburg, Oregon, makes herbicides, fungicides, insecticide for the agriculture sector. “We have tracked crop protection companies for many years and based on our industry knowledge and research, our investment in Willowood’s future growth is a great fit for our core investment strategy,” says Lariat managing partner Kevin Mitchell.
Lariat’s core investment strategy includes backing recurring revenue businesses that have up to $20 million in Ebitda. The Denver-based private equity owns a stake in another agriculture company called Northern Seed LLC, an animal feed distributor.
The agriculture sector has seen robust deal activity with demand driven by a rising global population continues to grow. Advent International will acquire chemicals producer Viakem SA de CV; Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) and DuPont Co. agreed to merge in 2015; and FMC Corp. (NYSE: FMC) completed its purchase of Cheminova. For more on M&A in the sector, read Agriculture Acquirers Feed on Crop Protection. For more on trends in the chemicals industry, read Chemical Makers Keep Drawing Buyers.
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