Rivulis Irrigation Ltd. of Israel and Eurodrip S.A. of Greece announced that the two companies have entered into a definitive merger agreement in an all-share transaction, creating a global leader in micro irrigation. Transaction closing is subject to satisfaction of certain conditions including, but not limited to, regulatory approvals. The merged company will have unparalleled market coverage with 18 factories around the world and 1,800 employees across 5 continents and 30 countries. Growers around the world will benefit from an extensive product and solution offering, consisting of trusted industry brands such as T-Tape™, Ro-Drip™, Hydrogol™, D5000, Eolos™, Compact™, PC2™ and Olympos™. The merged company will be headquartered in Gvat, Israel and will be named Rivulis Irrigation, Ltd. Richard Klapholz, the current CEO of Rivulis Irrigation, will lead the merged company.
All current shareholders of the two companies – FIMI Opportunity Funds, Israel’s leading private equity fund (FIMI), US based Paine & Partners, LLC (Paine & Partners) and Dhanna Engineering of India – will remain shareholders of the merged company and will remain active on the Board of Directors, ensuring continuity and providing strong support for the success of the merged company. FIMI will maintain a majority stake and Gillon Beck, the current Chairman of Rivulis Irrigation and Senior Partner at FIMI, will serve as the Chairman of the merged entity. The company will continue to support both the Rivulis and Eurodrip brands, and will remain strongly committed to its mission of providing continuous innovation, and strong service to help growers to optimise yields sustainably and economically while addressing water and land scarcity.
Richard Klapholz, Rivulis Irrigation CEO, commented on the merger: “We are thrilled to have these two leading companies join forces to better serve the growing needs of the irrigation markets around the world. While benefitting from significant operational economies of scale, we will ensure that all commitments to our distribution business partners are maintained and further strengthened. Our goal is to ensure that our business partners will continue to be successful with the products and solutions of both companies – but now with a wider offering and stronger manufacturing base.”
