The industry has been consolidating over the past years. “We were at a crossroads as to whether we continued to compete with much larger, better resourced groups of companies and make large investments into our own R&D activities, or partner with one of these much larger groups and leverage off the knowledge and expertise they already had. Partnering with GreenV gives us a seat at the table, and being a minority investment it allows General Manager of New Zealand Operations James Harris and I to retain full control of the day-to-day running of the business. Our extremely hard-working staff are now part of something much larger and this will open doors for further personal growth and development of all employees”, reveals Folco Faber.
“This is also going to enable us to greatly improve our offerings to customers. We will have a key focus on bringing customers efficiencies in terms or energy usage, including more efficient and lower carbon footprint energy generation for food production, and also automation as a way of improving labour efficiencies.”
Formerly Faber Glasshouses, Apex Greenhouses was founded in New Zealand by Dutch immigrant Leo Faber in the late 1970s. Leo quickly moved from building greenhouses, to manufacturing steel-framed greenhouses locally, mimicking the Dutch designed ‘Venlo’ glasshouse structures. Leo’s son, Folco Faber, and Mr Harris have led the Australian and New Zealand operations for the past 15 and 12 years respectively.
GreenV has international shareholdings in CEA businesses specialising in climate control, sustainable energy, heating and electrical engineering, including GreenSimplicity, Voshol, Prins Group, Stolze and HT Verboom in the Netherlands, JV Energy Solutions in Canada and Prins USA in the United States.
GreenV’s Chief Commercial Officer Anneke van de Geijn:, “Our share in Apex Greenhouses complements our ambitions to grow the mid- and high-tech greenhouse industry worldwide. We see significant growth in the industry across the world as our climate changes, and Australia is not immune. We have a great understanding of the industry, and we can share that with the Australian and New Zealand markets.”
Apex Greenhouses Australia was advised by PWC M&A and Tax Sydney Team, with legal advice from CorrsChambersWestgarth, and further assistance from Brown Wright Stein. Apex Greenhouses New Zealand received legal and tax advice from MinterEllisonRuddWatts and Baker Tilly Staples Rodway. Closing of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.
Notes for the editor
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