An investment firm led by former Royster Clark Inc. executives Francis P. Jenkins, Jr. and G. Kenneth Moshenek announced plans to acquire Jimmy Sanders Inc. of Cleveland, Miss. The firm, JSI Parent Inc., will purchase 100 percent of the stock of Jimmy Sanders Inc., which owns and operates 43 retail farm centers located in Mississippi (26 locations), Arkansas (8), Tennessee (3), and Louisiana (6). The locations are as far north as Union City, Tenn., and as far south as Frogmore, La. Included in the sale is the company’s interest in the Light, Ark., seed plant, the company’s corporate headquarters, river terminals, and distribution centers.
JSI Parent was founded by Jenkins and Moshenek. “JSI Parent Inc. expects to make very few changes and will continue to operate the company as Jimmy Sanders Incorporated and will maintain its headquarters in Cleveland, Miss.,” said Jenkins.
Jimmy Sanders Inc. was founded in 1953 and has been a family-owned business since its inception. It is listed as the ninth largest ag input retailer in the U.S., according to CropLife 100 for the year 2006.
“The sale of the company to JSI Parent will benefit Sanders employees and customers because Jimmy Sanders’ legacy will continue with no disruption to the business,” said Mike Sanders, president and CEO. “The new owners will continue to offer customers high value products and services, will operate the company with the existing employees, will maintain the same Jimmy Sanders name, and will keep the corporate offices in Cleveland.”
Earlier this year Sanders sold its commercial grain operations to a third party in a separate transaction.
The purchase is subject to customary regulatory approvals. The closing is expected by the end of the year. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Both Jenkins and Moshenek had non-compete contracts through July 22, 2010, with Agrium Inc., which bought Royster-Clark. However, the Jimmy Sanders deal may not call those into play as Royster-Clark’s primary market area was the Midwest and the Southeast. Jimmy Sanders’ primary market area is the Mid-South.
JSI Parent is not a unit of The Shermen WSC Acquisition Corp., a company also partially owned by Jenkins and Moshenek set up to acquire agricultural properties. Moshenek told Green Markets that while he and Jenkins both own stakes in JSI Parent and Shermen, this deal is being conducted by JSI Parent separately. Currently, there are no plans for the JSI Parent/Jimmy Sanders deal to transfer over to Shermen.
Shermen was incorporated in April 18, 2006, and was formed to acquire an operating business in the agriculture industry through a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, or other similar business combination. On May 30, 2007, the company completed an initial public offering of 23 million units (GM June 4, 2007, p. 1). Some $138 million was generated from the IPO. Shermen said that it intended to use substantially all of the net proceeds of the IPO and sale of warrants to acquire a target business. Any remaining funds would be used for continuing or expanding the target business, strategic acquisitions, and for marketing, research, and development of existing or new products. Shermen said the initial business combination must be with an operating business whose fair market value is equal to at least 80 percent of Shermen’s net assets at the time of the acquisition. Also at the time of the IPO, Shermen gave itself 18-24 months to make an acquisition or else dissolve. It said it planned to complete only one business combination.