Central Garden & Pet buys 150-year-old seed brand Burpee
What's the deal? Central Garden & PetDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has acquired W. Atlee BurpeeDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → Company, the 150-year-old US packet seed and young plant brand, for an undisclosed sum. The deal closed on September 30, 2026, extending Central's branded garden portfolio into seeds and plants.
What each side brings: Central is a Walnut Creek, California consumer goods company in the pet and garden industries, with fiscal 2025 net sales of $3.1 billion and brands including Pennington, Sevin, and Ferry-Morse. Burpee, founded in 1876 and headquartered in Pennsylvania, sells seeds, plants, and garden supplies across mass, grocery, e-commerce, catalog, and home-improvement channels.
What changes? Burpee will operate as a separate business under chief executive officer Jamie Mattikow, preserving continuity for customers. Central was advised by Baker BottsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →; Burpee by William Blair and Stradley Ronon.
Why it matters: Central framed the purchase around Burpee's reach and digital capabilities. "Its high brand awareness, deep consumer relationships and established digital capabilities make it a compelling addition to our Garden portfolio," said chief executive officer Niko Lahanas.
Why now? The move fits Central's stated strategy of using acquisitions to build its portfolio. It recently agreed to buy an 80% stake in European pet-supplies company TRIXIEDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and its garden business has reported growth in fertilizer, wild bird, and grass-seed sales.
What could go wrong? With terms undisclosed, the deal's scale is hard to assess. Its payoff hinges on whether Central can apply its scale to expand Burpee without disrupting the brand's established customer base.
The signal: Central is consolidating heritage consumer brands across both its pet and garden arms, betting that a resilient home-gardening market rewards distribution scale layered onto trusted, standalone brands.
Read more: finance.yahoo.com
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