Digging into mergers and acquisitions in the horticulture industry

Photo © Adobestock

There’s a shift happening in horticulture — across garden centers, greenhouses and wholesale nurseries. For generations, these businesses were led by plant people, folks who could rattle off every cultivar in the field. They knew what thrived in which zone without checking a tag. They bled green.

But the winds are changing.

More and more, the people at the helm aren’t growers or garden center vets. They’re professionals coming out of finance, logistics, tech, manufacturing — corporate America. What they bring isn’t botanical expertise. It’s business horsepower.

In just the past year, we’ve seen a growing number of nursery and garden center owners and executives who come to horticulture with zero direct industry background. They know how to manage teams, read a P&L and drive results — plus they’re smart enough to surround themselves with strong plant people who do know the scientific names.

Take Midwest Groundcovers in St. Charles, Illinois. It’s a landmark company, founded by the legendary Peter Orum, who passed away in October 2024. For decades, it was led by Gary Knosher, a career horticulturist. When Gary retired, the company’s board, led by Christa Orum-Keller, didn’t choose to bring in another grower. They brought in Paul Pirkle.

Paul stepped in as president and COO in 2023. Before that, he was president of Mid America Paper Recycling. He’s got an MBA, a track record in leadership and a sharp eye for strategy. He’ll tell you he’s not a plant guy — but he knows how to build a team and move a company forward. And that mindset is becoming more common in our space.

As M&A advisers in this industry, we’ve seen it firsthand. We’ve helped sell garden centers and nurseries all over the country — some to private equity, some to individuals looking for a fresh start. Many of those buyers had never run a greenhouse or sold a shrub. But they know how to run a business. And they’re bringing those skills to horticulture.

Another example is a garden center in Florida we were involved with recently. The former owner brought in Frank Escobar from Best Buy to lead the business and get it ready for sale. Escobar has no horticulture experience — but he knows operations. He built systems, improved margins and turned the place into a model of efficiency.

Escobar told us his biggest challenge wasn’t the business — it was the mindset. People were used to doing things a certain way, and change didn’t always come easy. But with clear leadership and the right culture, he made it work. One thing he said really stuck: “Thinking about tomorrow is less important than thinking about two years from now.” That’s the kind of long-game thinking more businesses could use.

We handled the sale of Northland Farms, a major nursery near Grand Rapids, Michigan. Local interest was there — some neighbors, a competitor or two — but the buyer who got the deal done was Eric Otto from Baltimore. His background is in freight, manufacturing and finance — no horticulture on the resume. But he saw the opportunity, made the move and now owns the business. He and his family are all in, relocating to the area and jumping into this new chapter.

And Otto is not an outlier.

We’re currently working with several operations for sale, and in nearly every case, the serious buyers are coming from outside the industry. They’re bringing fresh eyes and fresh ideas — and they’re not afraid to shake things up.

If you’re thinking about succession or preparing to sell down the line, here’s something to think about: Having strong, high-skill management in place matters more than ever. Your next buyer may have been running a region for Dick’s Sporting Goods last year — like Ben Pecnik, who’s now vice president at Louisiana Nursery in Baton Rouge. He came out of retail sporting goods and brought a whole new level of structure to the operation.

These buyers care less about whether your team knows the binomial nomenclature of every plant in the back 40. They care if the business is well-run, data-informed and growth-ready. They’re looking for teams that can hit performance targets, adopt new systems and scale.

Many of them are drawn to our industry by something more human — better work-life balance, deeper customer connections and staff who genuinely care about what they do. But they also see gaps, especially in technology, training and internal processes, and they’re ready to close them.

This isn’t a threat to the industry. It’s an evolution. We’re seeing new energy, new thinking and new leadership — and that’s not a bad thing.

Gene Redlin is a certified personal property appraiser specializing in nursery business appraisals. Contact him at generedlin@att.net.