JUNE 2007: DEAL WATCH
The
making of a giant onion, er, onion giant
There were no tears shed when two Hermiston onion companies
joined forces in April. With the help of capital from
Dallas-based CIC Partners, Bob Hale’s American Onion and
Joe Graziano’s Rivergate Farms merged to form River Point
Farms, which, they’re saying (and so far nobody has
called them out on it) is now the largest grower and processor
of yellow, red and sweet onions. Hale won’t say how much
he expects in sales this year, only that 500 year-round
employees will produce 400 million pounds of River Point
onions.
It was a match made in vegetable heaven. Graziano, whose
family’s produce trucks have been a fixture in Oregon for
generations, claims the nickname “the Onion King.”
In 2003 (three years after selling his produce business to Del
Monte) he introduced a new way of cutting oinions to increase
their shelf-life. Hale, meanwhile, was actively going after the
fast-casual restaurant chain business. The two worked closely
together, American growing the onions, Rivergate cutting them
up. As Hale puts it: “It made sense to roll the companies
together.”
Enter CIC, a bunch of former restaurant guys (other CIC
investments include Quiznos and the largest TGI Fridays
franchise) who recognized the opportunity. What’s next
for River Point? Hale, the new company’s president,
points out that the onion business is “highly
fragmented.” Translation: Watch this space for future
onion acquisitions.
— Christina
Williams
REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS
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ANNOUNCED
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BUYER (HQ)
|
REAL ESTATE (LOCATION)
|
SELLER
|
PRICE
|
|
1-May
|
International Airport Centers LLC (IL)
|
industrial facility (Fairview)
|
Fairview Development LLC (Fairview)
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$17m
|
|
30-Apr
|
RE No One LLC
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Hillsboro Promenade (Hillsboro)
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Hillsboro Promenade LLC
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$10.1m
|
|
25-Apr
|
Unico Properties LLC (WA) and JP Morgan Investment
Management
|
Reflections of Summer Creek (Beaverton)
|
Undisclosed private entity
|
$37m
|
|
24-Apr
|
Richard J. Bennett
|
industrial property (Portland)
|
Weston William McGaa Irrevocable Trust
|
$1.9m
|
|
17-Apr
|
Calloway Real Estate Investment Trust (Toronto)
|
2 retail centers (Portland & Albany)
|
SmartCentres of Toronto
|
$35m
|
|
13-Apr
|
ScanlanKemperBard Companies LLC (Portland)
|
office building (CO)
|
ND
|
$45.55m
|
|
4-Apr
|
Guardian Management LLC (Portland)
|
residential apartments (WA)
|
ND
|
ND
|
|
4-Apr
|
Clackamas County
|
industrial building (Oregon City)
|
RS 7 LLC
|
$3.68m
|
|
2-Apr
|
Guardian Management LLC (Portland)
|
residential apartments (AZ)
|
ND
|
ND
|
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
|
|
ANNOUNCED
|
EXP. CLOSE
|
BUYER (HQ STATE) / PARENT
|
SELLER (HQ) / PARENT
|
PRICE (TERMS)
|
|
1-May
|
Q2 ‘ 07
|
Cascade Corporation (Fairview)
|
American Compaction Equipment (CA)
|
ND
|
|
1-May
|
Q2 ‘ 07
|
MSI-PRO Co. (North Plains)/Jewett-Cameron Trading Company
Ltd.
|
new product lines
|
ND
|
|
30-Apr
|
ND
|
Aventura Resorts (WA)
|
RV resort (Mosier)
|
ND
|
|
24-Apr
|
Q2 ‘ 07
|
CIC Partners (TX)
|
American Onion; Rivergate Farms, LLC (Hermiston)
|
ND
|
|
21-Apr
|
Q2 ‘ 07
|
Brookfield Asset Management (Toronto)
|
Longview Fibre Co. (WA)
|
$2.15b
|
|
16-Apr
|
Q3 ‘07
|
Ruth’s Chris Steak House (FL)
|
Portland franchised restaurant
|
~$4.5m
|
|
16-Apr
|
Q2 ‘ 07
|
Chockstone (Portland)
|
Peppercoin (MA)
|
ND
|
|
11-Apr
|
Q2 ‘ 07
|
Undisclosed investment group
|
Jackson & Perkins business (Medford)/Harry & David
Holdings
|
$21m (cash+earn-out)
|
|
4-Apr
|
Q2 ‘ 07
|
SP Industries/Riverlake Partners LLC (Portland)
|
Genevac Ltd. (England)/Thermo Fisher Scientific
|
ND
|
|
3-Apr
|
Q2 ‘07
|
Tougi (Portland)/Nettel Holdings
|
HTD Co. (Vietnam)
|
ND
|
|
2-Apr
|
Q2 ‘ 07
|
UxComm (Beaverton)
|
Virtugo Software (CA)
|
ND
|
|
2-Apr
|
Q2 ‘ 07
|
McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants
(Portland)
|
The Boathouse restaurants/Spectra Group of Great
Restaurants (Vancouver, BC)
|
$14.3m
|
|
30-Mar
|
Q2 ‘07
|
GreenWood Tree Farm L.P./Portland
|
poplar tree farm (Boardman) /Potlatch Corporation
|
$65m
|
CAPITAL RAISING
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ANNOUNCED
|
COMPANY (HQ) / LEADERSHIP
|
INVESTOR
|
PRICE
|
|
16-Apr
|
Collaborative Software Initiative (Portland)/Stuart Cohen,
CEO
|
OVP Venture Partners
|
ND
|
|
10-Apr
|
Ensequence (Portland)/Dalen Harrison, CEO
|
ND
|
$40m (Series C)
|
|
10-Apr
|
iovation (Portland)/Greg Pierson, President, CEO &
Founder
|
ND
|
ND (Series A)
|
List
researched by Mark Druskoff
NA=NOT DISCLOSED
Have an opinion? E-mail feedback@oregonbusiness.com
