Dutch Flower Group has become a shareholder of Nini Herburg Roses

January 2023 — Nini Herburg Roses, the parent company of the Nini Flowers rose nursery in Kenya and Herburg Roses rose nursery in Ethiopia, has been acquired by Dutch Flower Group.

Nini Herburg Roses owns Nini Flowers rose nursery in Kenya and Herburg Roses rose nursery in Ethiopia. Together, these two nurseries employ 2,500 people growing various varieties of roses on over 100 hectares of land, to produce more than 200 million stems every year for mass retail.

Dutch Flower Group is a family company that specializes in the international trade of fresh cut flowers, mixed bouquets, plants and decorative greens. With over 30 individually managed companies, the group supplies all distribution channels, from importing wholesalers (who supply florists) to the multiple retail sector (including supermarket chains, DIY centers, garden centers and petrol stations). Today, more than 5,000 people work at the Dutch Flower Group companies. Weekly sales of 75 million stems of cut flowers, 10 million mixed bouquets and 10 million plants resulted in an annual turnover of US$2.5 billion (€2.3 billion) in 2022.

Our role in the transaction

Oaklins’ team in the Netherlands acted as the exclusive sell-side advisor to Nini Herburg Roses. Frank de Hek, Partner at Oaklins Netherlands, said: “In addition to upscaling by means of expanding own capacity and acquiring peers, the changing forces in the value chain are also resulting in a trend towards becoming an integrated player and developing new business models, geared to increase efficiency, gain power in the value chain and increase traceability and transparency. This transaction perfectly fits in this trend, and we expect to see many more deals in the EMEA region in the years to come. Even though there are some integrated players such as Flamingo Horticulture and Blomsterboda, the EMEA is still far behind on this trend compared to the Americas and Asia/Oceania.”