John Deere’s acquisition of LESCO has been final for more than a month. Now the companies are working to integrate their services. This is reflected in the changes to John Deere Golf & Turf One Source.
John Deere Landscapes will officially house the LESCO business, but the acquisition affects the Golf & Turf One Source division too, says Gregg Breningmeyer, director of marketing and sales for the division.
“This additional agronomic expertise allows us to continue building a seamless, comprehensive product and service offering for our customers,” he said in a press release.
Starting in the new fiscal year, which is Nov. 1, the following changes will take effect:
- LESCO agronomic products, as well as some current One Source partner products, will be available through the One Source program.
John Deere One Source distributors will carry both equipment and irrigation heads and controllers and provide finance options for those products as well. - The new golf and turf field employees (formerly LESCO employees) will complement that offering as the agronomic arm of One Source – with a focus on seed, fertilizer and chemicals.
- Stores on Wheels will continue to provide exclusive golf offerings
- In addition to Stores on Wheels, customers will also be able to purchase golf and turf agronomic products through John Deere Landscapes gold branches (former LESCO service centers).
- While LESCO’s headquarters operations and activities will be moved to the John Deere Landscapes headquarters in Alpharetta, Ga., the company plans on keeping an office in Cleveland, Ohio.
These changes are just the beginning, Breningmeyer said, explaining that merging the two companies is a huge undertaking. Customer feedback will be considered, he added.
The sale was proposed in February and was completed in May. Shortly after the proposed sale was announced, Hawkshaw Capital Management LLC, which owns about 13.6 percent of shares outstanding, sought to halt the deal, saying the proposed sale price of $14.50 per share wasn’t enough. Hawkshaw owns more than 1.2 million shares of LESCO common stock.