Leo Ammerlaan, Van der Lugt and the Grow Group
Dutch propagators announce merger plans
This involves the plant nurseries Leo Ammerlaan, Van der Lugt (both from Bleiswijk / Berkel & Rodenrijs) and the Grow Group (from Naaldwijk, with sites in Bergschenhoek, Baarlo and Kessel). They will subsequently become one of the biggest market parties in the Netherlands, with a combined greenhouse surface area of approximately 55 hectares. Together they have an enormous amount of expertise in the growing of vegetables and ornamental plants, both domestically and abroad. The combination will be presented under the group name Plantise and is ready for the future.
Research has been conducted into the possibilities over the past few months and the three management teams now have increased confidence and enthusiasm about the opportunities offered by a far-reaching collaboration with equal control.
Promising collaboration
The three parties will be working on a full merger, based on equivalence, during the forthcoming months. They want to develop into a powerful industry party, purely from full commitment to each other. The merger company will be able to respond to market developments, required expertise, knowledge sharing and top quality standards more effectively from an efficient scale size, a sharper purchasing policy and with ambitions for further internationalisation and development opportunities for employees.
This will create a solid foundation for growth, which comes with the full approval of the management teams and shareholders and will offer new opportunities for both them and the employees, even if the familiar environment will soon be changing, after more than 100 years of family activity.
Further interpretation
The intended merger will be further interpreted and worked out in detail with employees, MR/WC, banks and the tax authorities over the forthcoming months. Decisiveness, progressivity and caution are all important starting points in this process.
Jos Stoit has been appointed as the Merger Director for this project. He will also continue with his role as General Director at Vanderlugt in a limited capacity.