Growers Supplies based in SA merge with Delta Agribusiness

We are very pleased to announce that Growers Supplies (SA) Pty Ltd (GS) has agreed to merge with Delta Agribusiness (Delta) effective April 1, 2023.

Bruno DiManno, Charmaine Librandi, Shane Librandi and their team have built up GS over many years to become a market leader across a diverse range of Agri services with outlets at Burton and Warooka in South Australia.

The addition of GS into the broader Delta Ag group family, continues our strategy to grow and diversify our business footprint and earnings diversity. This transaction will deliver positive synergies to both businesses, by providing GS centralised back end and network services support, increased capital to grow the business and access to the scale and benefits of Deltas overall procurement capacity. Both parties feel a strong cultural alignment and look forward to working together.

Through this transaction, Bruno, Charmaine and Shane will take up a significant portion of equity in the Delta Group as a part of the transaction consideration. Consistent with our model, this ensures strong forward alignment and we look forward to welcoming them to our shareholder family.

Bruno, Charmaine, Shane and their team will continue to fully manage GS on a business-as-usual basis, however, the businesses will be incorporated into the Delta operating systems and procurement functions at the end of March, ready for an April 1 transition. We will communicate with you further as we get closer to this timeline to refine any relevant details.

Importantly, the combined business of GS and Delta Ag remains privately owned and an independent organisation. We see this as very important as it aligns with the way we operate our businesses and our desire to ensure that the larger listed and foreign owned corporates continue to have growing, strong and capable competitors that are investing in and competing in regional Australia.

Gerard Hines, Managing Director of Delta Agribusiness commented, “We are delighted to welcome Bruno, Charmaine, Shane and the GS team into our business. They have built a very successful business and strong brand and reputation for customer service excellence and are a terrific natural fit for our culture and our strategy. We believe this also gives us a new platform in the Adelaide Hills and Adelaide Plains region, the Yorke Peninsula and the Murraylands, for further growth opportunities.”

Bruno DiManno also commented, “We feel this is a great opportunity to partner with Delta to take our business forward. Delta is a large and dynamic independent, with an inclusive shareholder model and we feel this will be a good outcome for our customers. It will give us access to the scale and resources Delta can provide and the opportunity for our terrific staff to become shareholders if they choose to”.

Bruno also added, “we wanted to stay private and maintaining a strong level of equity retains that local ownership and provides a good platform for succession planning. Delta will also bring other offerings they have to our customers like their Precision Ag products, Seasonal Finance, and their Real Estate relationship with LAWD.”

Over the last 13 years as Growers Supplies Bruno, Charmaine & Shane would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank the NRI Group for their support and networking.

Upon completion, the combined agronomic experience of the two businesses will greatly strengthen the overall value proposition to customers, as both businesses will bring new ideas and synergies to the table for the benefit of our customers. The combined group will have more than 75 agronomist/farm consultants and an ongoing and substantial dedication to research and development trial work.

Importantly, from a customer and supplier perspective this merger creates a lot of synergies and opportunities.

Prior to April 1, 2023, GS and Delta Ag will continue to operate as usual, and we will continue to update clients and suppliers as we progress with the business integration in the coming months.

If you have any queries around this communication, please feel free to contact us.

Bruno Di Manno

Managing Director | Growers supplies

0418 840 092

brunod@growerssupplies.com.au

Gerard Hines

Managing Director | Delta Agribusiness

0407 001 445

ghines@deltaag.com.au