Renewable Resources Group, the asset management firm that owned Bakersfield, Calif.-based Sun World International, has sold the company’s farming operations. What remains is Sun World Innovations, the breeding and licensing arm of the business, with headquarters in Palm Desert, Calif.
The farming operation of the company has been purchased by an investor group that has not been named, and the newly formed entity will be called Famous Vineyards. The group has contracted with Pasadena, Calif.-based Sun Pacific to farm the land, which is in the San Joaquin and Coachella valleys.
Jason Fuller, vice president of sales for Sun World, is now the vice president of sales for Famous Vineyards.
“We are committed to maintaining the strong supply programs and relationships built over the years,” Fuller said in a news release.
Other staffing decisions will be made in the next week and a half or so, per the release.
Here’s some additional background and information on Sun World and the changes happening there.
Was Sun World always two separate companies?
Not until recently.
Sun World Innovations was formed in 2015 — roughly two years after the company was acquired by Renewable Resources Group — “to drive growth of fruit breeding, varietal development, licensing, agricultural technologies and international investments,” according to the release.
Sun World Innovations has a network of licensed partner growers and offices in Italy, Chile, Australia, Israel and South Africa.
As a result of the changes, it was not a shock when Sun World was contacted about the possibility of a sale, CEO Merrill Dibble said in the release.
“Starting with RRG’s 2013 acquisition of Sun World, the company’s been significantly enhanced and restructured for long-term success,” said Dibble, who plans to stay on through the transition. “So the fact this property had become an increasingly attractive acquisition wasn’t a complete surprise. We’d been approached before.”
RRG had purchased Sun World from Greenwich, Conn.-based Black Diamond Capital Management in 2013. When that transaction took place, it was noted that RRG had been active in Kern County, Calif., for more than a decade, with extensive farming operations in Riverside County.
Two years before RRG bought Sun World — so around 2011 — it had purchased about 4,000 acres from the company.
Why split the company up?
“There was growing interest within the company in investing more heavily in the breeding and licensing part of our business at Sun World Innovations,” Dibble said in the release. “Stepping away from farming allows us to focus on Innovations.
“Another reason Sun World is making this move is to shift its exposure from farming, which we believe would benefit from the singular attention of an owner devoted solely to farming,” Dibble said. “The pressures on farming, both historic and recent, require total focus. We’ve decided to concentrate our energies and resources on the breeding and licensing side of the business.”
Did financial hardship play a role in the decision to sell?
The short answer is yes.
“I’m not exactly sharing state secrets when I say this is a difficult time for agriculture,” Dibbles aid in the release. “Issues largely out of the industry’s control — like competing supply regions, fewer people available to harvest our crops, tariffs, regulation — are enormous market stressors.”
Even so, the company had been preparing for the next harvest as usual, Dibble said.
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