Wilbur-Ellis Company completed its purchase of Ag Supply, Ltd.’s retail agronomy business
Courtney Chauvin
Management Supervisor
Peppercom on behalf of Wilbur-Ellis Company
cchauvin@peppercom.com
(212)-931-6167
Wilbur-Ellis Company Contact:
Jim Crawford
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Wilbur-Ellis Company
JCrawford@wecocbc.com
(415)-772-4031
On October 31, 2007, Wilbur-Ellis Company completed its purchase of Ag Supply, Ltd.’s retail agronomy business, which is headquartered in Earth, Texas.
“The operations of Ag Supply will be an excellent complement to our existing locations in West Texas,” said Wilbur-Ellis President & CEO John P. Thacher in announcing the acquisition. “Jerry Bellar and his team have built a dedicated customer service-oriented operation, which has led to very successful growth and expansion in the geography that they serve.”
In the joint announcement, Bob Coker, Ag Supply’s board chairman, confirmed the value of integrating their business with Wilbur-Ellis. “We are very pleased to join forces with Wilbur-Ellis,” Coker stated. “Finding a partner that shares our customer-focused approach to the business and views our employees as key stakeholders for continuing success was very important in our decision.”
The Ag Supply locations in Earth, Flagg and Dodd, Texas will operate under the Wilbur-Ellis name going forward while the Hereford, Texas location will be combined with the existing Wilbur-Ellis operations in Hereford.
Operations will report to Phillip A. Sullins, West Texas Area Manager for Wilbur-Ellis Company. Jerry A. Bellar, General Manager for Ag Supply, has been named Area Business Development Manager for Wilbur-Ellis. West Texas operations are organized under the Southwest Business Unit under Business Unit Manager Steven J. Dietze. The Agribusiness Division is led by Daniel R. Vradenburg, Executive Vice President of Wilbur-Ellis Company, and is headquartered in Walnut Creek, California.
Founded in 1921, Wilbur-Ellis is a privately-held business headquartered in San Francisco. The Company specializes in the marketing, distribution and formulation of crop protection products, fertilizers and seed, the importing and exporting of specialty chemicals, and the marketing and distribution of certain animal feed throughout the U.S., Canada and the Pacific Rim. The combined businesses recorded sales exceeding $1.7 billion in 2006.
For more information, please visit www.wilburellis.com
