Bomgaars to Acquire 73 Orscheln Farm Stores
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved a consent order addressing FTC concerns related to Tractor Supply Company’s acquisition of the rival chain Orscheln Farm and Home LLC. Tractor Supply, a Tennessee-based chain of stores that sell products for small farmers, ranchers and landowners, proposed an acquisition of Missouri-based Orscheln, a farm store chain with over 150 stores in the Midwest and South. Under the consent order, Tractor Supply is required to divest some Orscheln stores, as well as Orscheln’s corporate offices and Missouri distribution center, to Bomgaars, an Iowa-based farm store chain and past Beacon Award winner, and other stores to Buchheit, another chain with farm stores in Missouri and Illinois.
“We are pleased to announce that after a year and a half of very complex, multi-party negotiations, Bomgaars will acquire 73 stores in seven states, and experience an unprecedented level of growth for our customers, our community and our company,” said CEO Torrey Wingert. “While the federal approval process was at times equally exhausting and frustrating, our team and the Bomgaars family remained steadfast in their determination to complete this acquisition, and this collective commitment to do so was a big part in ensuring this deal was successfully concluded.”
The acquisition of 73 stores by Bomgaars brings the company’s total number of store locations to 180 in 15 states while also adding 1,400 new employees. In addition, Bomgaars will also acquire Orscheln’s 330,000-square-foot distribution center located in Moberly, Mo., as part of the transaction. The exchange is expected to happen in October or November of 2023.
Buchheit Family of Companies has announced the acquisition of 12 retail locations formerly owned by Orscheln Farm & Home Company.
“Buchheit is ready to introduce our WOW customer service to these rural communities,” said Buchheit CFO Eric Hasty. “We’re excited to grow our footprint in the Midwest to serve customers who enjoy the simpler life we love.”
Buchheit currently operates retail locations in Missouri and Illinois. This expansion takes the company into Kentucky, Arkansas and Nebraska. Buchheit intends to retain all of the Orscheln employees in these acquired locations.
“We’re honored to have this opportunity to expand our family and our culture to encompass other rural communities just like the community my grandfather started in 88 years ago,” said CEO Tim Buchheit. “We look forward to the continued success with our new families and new communities.”
The consent order requires Tractor Supply to provide assistance to Bomgaars and Buchheit as they convert the stores and transition Orscheln’s Missouri distribution center to Bomgaars. To facilitate the transition of the distribution center to Bomgaars, Tractor Supply must move the stores it is retaining out of the distribution center on a specific timeline outlined in the order. In addition to confidentiality provisions typically found in consent agreements, the order explicitly requires Tractor Supply to ensure physical separation of the teams supporting Tractor Supply’s stores, the stores being divested to Bomgaars and the stores being divested to Buchheit, and technical separation of the data used by each team.
Tractor Supply also must obtain prior approval from the Commission before acquiring any other farm stores or any property that operated as a farm store within six months prior to the date of the proposed acquisition within 60 miles around each Orscheln store being divested. Tractor Supply must appoint a compliance officer, provide at least weekly updates on transition to a monitor appointed by the Commission and provide monthly verified compliance reports to the Commission.
The consent agreement also requires that for a period of three years, the companies buying the divested farm stores, Bomgaars and Buchheit, must obtain prior approval from the Commission before selling any of the Orscheln stores they acquired. After the initial three years, the companies must get prior approval before selling any acquired store to a person that operates a farm store within a 60-mile radius of the store to be sold.