Westland Horticulture acquires William Sinclair

Following extensive reviews Westland horticulture will be removing green waste from Sinclair products

Following earlier reports today it has been confirmed that Westland Horticulture has acquired William Sinclair Horticulture

Retail

31 July 2015

Westland Horticulture, based in Northern Ireland, has this evening confirmed that it has acquired William Sinclair Horticulture in the UK and has immediately taken the company out of administrations.

The purchase includes the Ellesmere Port facility and additional manufacturing assets; Sinclair’s brands, J. Arthur Bowers, New Horizon, Growing Success and Deadfast, as well as Silverperl and professional growing media businesses.

The move will bring much needed stability to William Sinclair’s business and brands which have gone through turbulent times in recent months. In May the company, who supplies horticulture products to B&Q and Tesco, is reported to have warned it would run out of money by the end of the summer. This week the company also suspended it’s shares ahead of the rescue deal. It is reported that the move has saved over 270 jobs with the firm.

According to Westland Horticulture the focus in the short term will be to connect with all customers as well as to push forward with the exciting 2016 product plans due to be launched in September.

Edward Conroy, Managing Director at Westland Horticulture, commented on the acquisition saying “We have always believed that Sinclair’s is an important part of our industry’s landscape, and we are fully committed to maintaining this for the long term.”

On what is to come in the coming months Conroy said “Sinclair’s is fundamentally a good business and our focus is to work together with all customers in the professional and consumer sectors to make the transition simple and clear to all involved. It is imperative that over the coming days we keep our lines of communication open with customers and stakeholders.” He added “Westland is focused on delivering a strong future for Sinclair’s business, infrastructure and brands, which can only thrive from being part of the Westland family.”

Westland Horticulture’s latest acquisition was supported by a multi-million pound loan facility from Danske Bank. The bank previously backed Westland’s £18m acquisition of Cranswick Pet Foods in 2012.

Aaron Ennis, Senior Corporate Acquisition Manager at Danske Bank, said in a statement that Westland Horticulture is an excellent example of a locally-owned company that has regularly demonstrated its ambitions to find new markets and grow beyond Northern Ireland.

“Westland is a prime example of the trading businesses we at Danske are keen to support in their growth journey” explained Ennis. He added “The company has a strong track record of making successful acquisitions and Danske Bank was ready to provide support when the company was presented with this opportunity to further strengthen its growing business in Great Britain.”