Goldcrop in buyout of Power Seeds and Hardware

GOLDCROP announced yesterday that it has purchased Power Seeds and Hardware from Origin Enterprises in a move that will boost the company’s annual sales to €45 million.

The acquisition will give the company access to a large number of new certified seed growers in the important grain-growing areas of north Leinster and north Munster. Goldcrop has production, distribution and warehouse facilities at Carrigtwohill, Co Cork, and Dunleer, Co Louth, while Power Seeds, which has locations in Kilcock, Co Kildare, and Killavullen, Co Cork, has a 150-year track record in the agricultural market.

The chairman of Goldcrop, which will have an annual turnover of more than €45m and employs around 90 people, is Michael Murphy — a native of Ballydesmond, Co Cork, who led a management buyout of the business from Suttons in 1985.

He has spent his entire career in the seed business and has served as chairman of An Bord Glas and president of the Irish Seed Trade.

Goldcrop Group managing director John Murphy is a business graduate of UCC, who joined the company 10 years ago, having worked in the merchant and corporate banking sectors in Britain and Ireland.

“As an industry we need to ensure that our customers have access to the most innovative and competitively priced products,” he said.

“Great care will be taken to ensure that the best results are achieved for all concerned. We will endeavour to keep everyone informed and contact details for Goldcrop and Power Seeds remain unchanged,” he said.

Goldcrop, whose finance director is chartered accountant Michael O’Brien, a graduate of the University of Limerick, also supplies high-end amenity grass seeds for golf courses and sports fields.

It is a 50% shareholder in Groundforce, a leading importer and distributor of branded garden products and accessories.

A subsidiary company, Wicklow Garden Products, manufactures and distributes decorative timber products to the garden, landscaping and fencing markets throughout Ireland.