The Garden Centre Group acquires The Garden & Leisure Group

The Garden Centre Group announces today that it has acquired The Garden & Leisure Group from Louis Delhaize, which also owns Truffaut, a leading French garden centre group.

The purchase adds seven large garden centres in prime locations to the group's portfolio of 132 centres. It represents the first acquisition of a major chain of garden centres since The Garden Centre Group came under the ownership last year of Terra Firma - one of Europe's leading private equity firms - and follows the recent announcement of the acquisition of Cheddar and Lechlade garden centres.

Guy Hands, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of Terra Firma, said: "Terra Firma is committed to supporting the execution of TGCG's strategy, one of the key pillars of which is increasing the size of the Group. We have been actively seeking high quality acquisition opportunities and today's Garden & Leisure Group deal is a very good fit both with the existing TGCG estate, and our strategic vision for growing the leisure side of the business."

Kevin Bradshaw, Chief Executive of The Garden Centre Group, said: "We are absolutely delighted to welcome The Garden and Leisure Group into our portfolio. Adding these unique, destination stores to our Group represents a major milestone in our ambitious growth plans and the seven centres, in strong catchment areas, complement our existing estate well. We are excited about the opportunity to expand and develop our offering and plan to invest in and develop all seven sites into flagship Garden Centres for our Group."

The Garden & Leisure Group was formed in 1997 by Truffaut, the leading French garden centre group, and the founders of the Cadbury garden centre. The Garden & Leisure Group comprises seven centres: Barnett Hill, Endsleigh, Cadbury, Huntingdon, Gardenlands, Melbicks and Percy Thrower's.

The Garden Centre Group, the nation's largest group of garden centres, now has 139 centres across the country, including Blooms Garden Centres, Country Gardens and Wyevale Garden Centres.

90 per cent of The Garden Centre Group's plant stock is British-grown, and much of this stock is grown in their own nurseries. The Garden Centre Group employs more than 5,000 staff and runs its own gardening membership club, The Gardening Club, which has more than 2 million members.

Source : The Garden Centre Group
www.thegardencentregroup.co.uk/news/the-garden-centre-group-acquires-garden-and-leisure-group