WILLIAMSTOWN — Two local investors with long experience in land development offered an unsolicited takeover bid of nearly $400 million to buy a publicly held Florida citrus and cattle company, but the company’s board chairman rebuffed the offer Tuesday.
Money manager Donald R. Dion Jr., a founder of the former Litchfield Financial Corp., which financed vacation homes, teamed up with real-estate developer Harry Patten, founder of Patten Corp., to use their personal money and obtain financing to offer between $52.25 and $55.75 a share for Alico Inc. The company owns 141,000 acres in Florida, some of which Dion said would be sold to agri-business companies and some to real estate developers.
But Alico Chairman John Alexander, who is also chairman of Atlantic Blue Trust Inc., which owns the largest share of Alico stock — 49 percent — was quoted in The Ledger, a Florida newspaper, Wednesday as saying, “There is no price at which I would sell … We want to maintain Alico as an agribusiness and a public company.â€
Dion said yesterday that he and Patten do not consider that rejection final.
“It’s the bottom of the first inning,†he said by telephone.
He said he and Patten plan to pursue their bid because Atlantic Blue does not own a majority of Alico stock. He and Patten are also Alico shareholders, owning less than a 5-percent interest. They said they want an answer from the board of directors, which is scheduled to meet Friday.
The company’s business climate has been characterized by more-than-underutilized assets and has been rife with family acrimony, according to The Ledger article.
In August, Alexander proposed adding the 62,000-acre Blue Head Ranch with 10,000 head of cattle and a 2,000-acre grove operation to Alico, thereby increasing Alico’s land holdings by 45 percent. Those assets are owned by Atlantic Blue, a partnership owned by three daughters of the late Ben Hill Griffin Jr., one of whom, Sarah Griffin Alexander, is John Alexander’s wife.
The Alico shares were part of a settlement in a lawsuit brought by the daughters against their brother, Ben Hill Griffin III, on the grounds that he had mismanaged a family trust containing those assets.
Dion and Patten released their offer to the media Monday. Alico’s land is primarily in central and southwestern Florida, near Naples, Fort Myers and Tampa. In a letter dated Monday, Oct. 4, Dion and Patten wrote Alico Chairman, President and CEO John R. Alexander that their offer would be of greater benefit to shareholders than an earlier proposal by Atlantic Blue Trust Inc. to merge the companies. They offered to buy the company for up to $406 million.
Alico’s areage includes land once held by the Atlantic Coast Line railroad. It had net income of $15.1 million, or $2.10 a share, on revenue of $44.5 million in the nine months ending May 31, its most recent reporting period, according to a story in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal.
Dion said he and Patten plan to sell land, “some to raise cattle, grow oranges and grapefruit and sugar cane — and there’s also some oil and gas — while some will be sold to developers, developed and sold to people who want to move to Florida.â€
“Friday will start the process,†he said.
News of the offer caused a surge of interest on the stock market. The Wall Street Journal reported that, in Nasdaq Stock Market trading, Alico shares rose 17 percent, to $52.52 by 4 p.m. Monday, and that volume was more than 16 times normal, at 143,191 shares.
Atlantic Blue Trust of Lake Wales, Fla., an agri-business holding company, in August proposed a merger that it said would lower operating costs for both companies. That merger would combine the cattle ranching and citrus operations of both. Alico has formed a special committee to evaluate the proposal.
Dion is founder and owner of Dion Money Management Inc. in Williamstown, which currently manages more than $600 million in assets. Previously, he was a founder, chairman and CEO of Litchfield, which specialized in providing financing for the purchase and improvement of rural land. Litchfield was sold to Textron Corp.
Patten, of Williamstown, who owns the Paradise Farm here, specializes in acquiring undeveloped rural properties and subdividing them into large parcels to sell for recreation, retirement and investment. Patten founded Patten Corp. now known as Bluegreen Inc., and is founder and chairman of National Land Partners LLC.
“We and our affiliated companies have had many years of experience in financing transactions, evaluating real estate opportunities and operating companies,†Dion and Patten wrote Alexander.
“We and our affiliated companies are prepared to commit substantial capital to finance the purchase of Alico,†they added. “Based upon our existing relationships with other financing sources and our evaluation of the company’s assets, we are highly confident that we can secure any additional capital required to fund this acquisition, and following completion of confirmatory diligence, we would expect to present the board with a firmly financed offer.â€
The money they would use is separate from that of clients of Dion Money Management, Dion said.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.
Your Comments
iBerkshires.com welcomes critical, respectful dialogue. Name-calling, personal attacks, libel, slander or foul language is not allowed. All comments are reviewed before posting and will be deleted or edited as necessary.
No Comments
Dalton Fire District Voters OK Annual Meeting Articles
By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — Voters approved all articles but one on the warrant at the annual Fire District meeting on Tuesday night at the Stationery Factory.
Some 48 voters attended the meeting, which lasted an hour and 40 minutes, to vote on several articles that make up a total budget of $3,663,081.
However, that amount was reduced to $3,660,581 after voters decided the town would assume responsibility for funding the required 50 percent match for a state Department of Conservation and Recreation grant.
If approved, the grant covers forest fighting in fiscal year 2027. The Fire District and the town are separate governing entities, and under state law, responsibility for funding the Forest Warden position and all related expenses falls to the town.
Historically, the district has included a $2,500 article to fund the match, but this year the request was "tabled." However, because articles at annual meetings cannot formally be tabled, the action effectively resulted in the request failing.
"The Forest Warden budget does provide enough money to supply. I believe it's $3,900 … within the budget to cover that amount of money," the town's Finance Committee chair William Drosehn said.
Drosehn, who also moderated the annual meeting, clarified before making the comment that he was speaking in his capacity as finance chair.
Mount Greylock Regional School seventh-grader Scarlett Foley Sunday beat two opponents from Division 2 Longmeadow to capture the Western Mass Tennis Individuals Championship. click for more
Qwanell Bradley scored 33 points, and Adan Wicks added 29 as the Hoosac Valley boys basketball team won a Division 5 State Championship on Sunday. click for more
Adan Wicks scored 38 points, and the eighth-seeded Hoosac Valley basketball team Saturday rallied from a nine-point first-half deficit to earn a 76-67 win over top-seeded Drury in the Division 5 State Quarter-Finals. click for more
Caprese Conyers scored 22 points, and Kyana Summers had a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds to go with eight assists as Pittsfield got back to the state semi-finals for the second year in a row. click for more
