Waukesha-based power generation equipment manufacturer Generac Holdings Inc. today announced it has acquired Vergennes, Vt.-based Country Home Products Inc. The acquisition was completed Saturday.
Country Home Products manufactures engine-powered equipment used in property maintenance. Its products, among them field and brush mowers and leaf vacuums, are sold mostly in North America under the DR and Neuton brands. The company was founded in 1985 and has more than 200 employees at its three locations, all in Vermont.
The Country Home leadership team will continue to manage the business, and the DR and Neuton brands will join Generac’s brand family. No information was available about the future of Country Home’s facilities or employees. Generac said in a release it would make additional comments about the transaction in its second quarter financial results on Thursday.
The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Country Home Products in the acquisition.
“Acquiring Country Home Products is a great strategic fit for Generac’s business and is perfectly aligned with our Powering Ahead strategic objective of diversifying our end markets with new products and services,” said Aaron Jagdfeld, president and chief executive officer. “This acquisition dramatically expands our chore-related products line-up and will provide additional scale to our residential engine-powered tools platform. We believe this transaction should create meaningful cross-selling opportunities with our existing distribution and should also generate certain cost synergies as we leverage our existing global sourcing and manufacturing capabilities.”
“This is a very exciting transaction for Country Home Products,” said Joe Perrotto, president of Country Home Products. “It will open up even larger markets for sales of DR, Neuton and Generac products both in the U.S. and globally, and will also create meaningful opportunities to improve our product costs and ultimately the value we bring to our customers. We are pleased to join the Generac family and look forward to our continued success as we work together to drive growth and bring exceptional products, service, and value to the markets we serve.”
