Aquatrols, a family-owned, family-run company that’s been a pillar in the turf industry for 60-plus years, surprised many this morning by announcing they’ve formed an alliance with an investment group that specializes in funding growth for green industry companies.
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Equally surprising is that the strategic advisors and limited partners in the group – Rural American Fund – include two very familiar names: Jeff Becker and Roger Underwood.
What’s not surprising is that the company will continue to operate exactly as it has … only with significant new resources from the RAF investment. How will those resources be used and what will change in the future? I spoke with Tracy Jarman, Aquatrols CEO, and Tom Karlson, the founding principal of the Rural American Fund, LP (http://www.raflp.com/), about the new alliance and what it will mean to the company and its customers.
Why was the time finally right for Aquatrols to find an investment partner?
Jarman: Most people know us in golf for wetting agents but our research goes far beyond that. We believe that we have technologies that can have a significant impact on the whole issue of food production in the future. The company, as we were, didn’t have the resources to make that leap and help people understand what those technologies can do. We found a partner to help us accelerate those technologies and help us get connected to (agriculture) markets we hadn’t been able to access in the past.
How will it change your historic focus on golf and sports turf?
Jarman: Turf and specialty are still our core. But the market is only so big. Expanding into other soil-, water- and plant-related areas will help us grow our business and help us realize the potential of the technologies we’ve developed. We just didn’t have the resources or the connections to do it on our own.
You’ve been approached many times about acquisition or takeovers. Why did this alliance make the most sense?
Jarman: RAF only focuses on the green industry. They’re not funding medical device companies or parts manufacturers … just green industry companies with growth potential. And they have advisors on their team who focus on our industry and have a ton of experience and history. They get what our technologies do and can see the future.
Okay, Tom, why was Aquatrols an attractive opportunity for RAF?
Karlson: We focus on the input section of the supply chain. We’re paying attention to the intersection of water management and specialty chemicals due to the combination of high demand for water for golf and landscapes and the increasing scarcity of that resource. Aquatrols is an ideal fit within those trends. They also have unique proprietary technology, advanced R&D strategy and a strong management team from which we can build.
I’ve known about Aquatrols from my work with Becker-Underwood (which was acquired by BASF two years ago). They’ve been on our radar screen ever since. They’re really good people with great specialty chemical technology and experience. That’s a solid combination on which to build upon.
How do Mr. Underwood and Mr. Becker fit into the equation?
Karlson: They knew that Aquatrols was the player in this market. They were very critical in evaluating the opportunity. Their view of the specialty market and these technologies really helped supplement our in-house analysis.
So what changes right away?
Jarman: Not a thing. No one’s job changes. The name doesn’t change. Supply chain doesn’t change. Nothing. We’re continuing as Aquatrols.
Karlson: We grow incrementally from here. We’ll evaluate strategic opportunities together to find the right path forward.
I have to ask what your dad (company founder Bob Moore) would think if he had been around for this day?
Jarman: He’s up there smiling at what we did with his little idea. We’re now one step closer to realizing his dreams about how this technology could radically change the way water interacts with soils and plants. This would make him very happy.