InHarvest
Cherry Tree Advises InHarvest, a Duininck Company, on its Sale to Riviana Foods

—Trevor Duininck, CEO Duininck Companies
INDUSTRY:
Food Manufacturer, Consumer
DESCRIPTION:
Producer and procurer of premium specialty rice, quinoa, and grains for the foodservice, industrial, and retail sectors
LOCATION:
Colusa, CA & Woodland, CA
TRANSACTION TYPE:
Sale to Riviana Foods Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ebro Foods, S.A. (BME:EBRO)
Transaction Overview
Riviana Foods, North America’s largest processor, marketer and distributer of branded and private label rice products, acquired the assets of InHarvest, a leading producer of premium specialty rice, quinoa and grains for the foodservice, industrial, and retail sectors, for $48.75 million.
The acquisition expands Riviana’s operations and geographic footprint into California and includes two production facilities in Colusa and Woodland strategically located in the rice-growing area of the Western United States. In addition, with InHarvest’s focus on the foodservice, ingredients/industrial and retail/private label sectors, the purchase complements and enhances Riviana’s current business in those segments.
“The acquisition of the InHarvest business is an excellent fit and consistent with our strategic plan to expand our position in the specialty value-added rice, quinoa and grains markets,” said Enrique Zaragoza, President & CEO of Riviana. “We are excited about this expansion as we also look forward to welcoming InHarvest’s employees to the Riviana team.”
Cherry Tree’s Role:
Cherry Tree was engaged to advise InHarvest and its shareholders as they considered an unsolicited bid from a strategic party seeking to acquire the business. The objectives were to maximize shareholder value and terms of a transaction, while managing an efficient closing process. The Cherry Tree team advised the shareholders throughout the entire process, which included soliciting the LOI bid and negotiating terms, supporting the Company in the confirmatory due diligence process, negotiating terms of the purchase agreement and managing the overall process of closing the transaction.
About InHarvest, Inc.:
About Riviana Foods Inc.:
About Cherry Tree & Associates
Cherry Tree & Associates is a private investment banking firm headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1980, it specializes in M&A transactions for both buyers and sellers of middle market companies. Additionally, it conducts private placements for attractive, entrepreneurially managed growth companies, provides strategic advisory services to CEOs and boards of directors, and prepares fairness opinions and other valuation services.
Cherry Tree & Associates provides investment banking services through our FINRA-licensed broker dealer.