Merger activity remained steady last week with two new deals announced, and three deals completed.
AgroFresh Solutions (AGFS) to be taken private by Paine Schwartz Partners
AgroFresh Solutions is an AgTech company that provides solutions and technology for food preservation and reducing food waste. The company used to be the post-harvest specialty chemical business of The Dow Chemical Company (DOW) and was sold to Boulevard Acquisition Corp. as part of a plan to divest less-lucrative units. AgroFresh became a publicly traded company in 2015.
SmartFresh system, the company’s flagship product, uses 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), an ingredient similar to ethylene, a naturally occurring hormone that causes fruit to ripen. SmartFresh targets ethylene-sensitive sites in the fruit and puts the ripening process “on hold” so that softening and over-ripening occur much more slowly. The company also offers a line of fungicides, wax coatings, and packaging to improve the shelf life of post-harvest produce.
AgrFresh also sells a software solution called FreshCloud, that allows customers to control the state of their produce with monitoring and screening.