Sep 30, 2005

Kerry’s Bromeliads ExpandsSource: Various

Kerry’s Bromeliad Nursery Inc., Homestead, Fla., finalized an agreement on September 29 to purchase Twyford International’s tissue culture and greenhouse operations in Apopka, Fla., and Heredia, Costa Rica.

Kerry’s Bromeliad Nursery is the largest grower of orchids and one of the two largest bromeliad growers in the United States. The nursery, which also produces foliage, is going to become even larger with the acquisition. “My plans are to continue in the liner business, expand and improve variety selection and quality to growers,” said Kerry Herndon, president and CEO of the nursery.

This is going to be Kerry’s first off-shore plunge. Herndon said they are definitely going to expand the business, but since we caught him only a few minutes after the deal was finalized he couldn’t offer much detail. In the meantime, Herndon plans on focusing on the exchange. “I’ve been in and around Twyford doing business with them for 20-plus years and recognized that this was a wonderful team of people that could execute on a business strategy. It made it easy to say this is not really a risk. This is good business and we need to have certain strengths with process and systems that make good businesses better,” Herndon said. “We intend to learn from Twyford and teach what we know too.”