Driven by its plan to have a robust North Island hothouse presence, Market Gardeners Limited (MG) has finalised the purchase of Warkworth-based operation Southern Paprika Limited (SPL). The SPL business is now under full MG ownership and management.
Established in 1998, SPL was formed by Alexander Cropping Limited (ACL), a New Zealand business owned by Hamish, Robyn Alexander, and the Levarht Family of Holland. Featuring 27 hectares of modern glasshouses across five developments, housing up to one million capsicum plants and producing seven million kilos per year, SPL is one of the most significant hothouse operations in New Zealand.
MG has acquired the entire SPL business and assets, including land, buildings, intellectual property and a trademark for the SPL brand. Importantly, all 170 employees of SPL will remain in the business, ensuring expertise is retained in the industry and seamless continuity of operations.
Regarding the investment, MG CEO Peter Hendry said the acquisition would further boost the scale of MG. Hendry elaborated that the sale would provide the cooperative with greater security of supply of capsicums and further future opportunities to align supply with demand in other hothouse categories for the growing North Island market.
“As a proud Kiwi cooperative, we’re thrilled to welcome another great New Zealand business of the calibre of SPL and all of its employees into the MG Group,” said Peter Hendry.
Hendry explained that the purchase of SPL allowed MG to expand its footprint in the North Island by adding a hothouse operation, offering a wide range of benefits and advantages to MG’s existing grower suppliers, shareholders, and shareholder customers.
The SPL hothouse was chosen specifically for its location, calibre of people, quality of facilities and potential scalability. The acquisition would benefit MG’s strategy of securing supply and enhancing its hothouse categories. Hendry believed that better outcomes would come as a result of the purchase, also meaning greater returns to MG’s shareholders.
“We also see enormous opportunity going forward with expanding the operation to align with future market demand for other hothouse products. It’s a win for our customers, our current capsicum and hothouse suppliers, our cooperative shareholders and the local community in Warkworth.”
SPL founder, Hamish Alexander, said he was delighted to hand over the business to a New Zealand company that mirrors their values and has the resources to take the business forward.
“It was our goal to find owners like MG, with a culture and approach to business that aligns with ours, particularly around how they look after their people,” said Hamish. “We are thrilled to have owners with the necessary experience and complementary skills to enable a long-term focus for the business as it enters its next phase.”
