> Griffin Land Closing on Imperial Nurseries Transaction
Griffin Land Closing on Imperial Nurseries Transaction
| Griffin Land & Nurseries, Inc. (Nasdaq: GRIF) (“Griffin”) announced today that it has completed the disposition of the landscape nursery growing operations of Imperial Nurseries, Inc. (“Imperial”), Griffin’s subsidiary in the landscape nursery business. This transaction, with Monrovia Nursery Company (“Monrovia”), a private company grower of landscape nursery products, includes a sale of Imperial’s inventory and certain other assets for an initial cash payment of approximately $840,000 received at closing (subject to certain adjustments) and a note receivable for $4,250,000 to be paid in two installments: June 1, 2014 and June 1, 2015. This transaction also includes a long-term lease to Monrovia of most of the land, land improvements and other fixed assets (collectively the “Land and Improvements”) that were used by Imperial in its Connecticut growing operations. Monrovia also has an option to purchase all or portions of the leased Land and Improvements during the lease term. Substantially all of Imperial’s operations and sales personnel are being employed by Monrovia. Griffin expects to record a significant charge from this transaction in its fiscal 2013 fourth quarter results due to the sale of Imperial’s inventory and other assets at a discount to their book value. As a result of this transaction, Imperial will be reported as a discontinued operation in Griffin's consolidated financial statements. Griffin operates a real estate business, Griffin Land, LLC, and also has an investment in Centaur Media plc, a public company based in the United Kingdom and listed on the London Stock Exchange. |