NL: Greenhouse horticulture companies sold faster and for higher prices

The Dutch Association of Brokers and Valuers reports that 27 greenhouse horticulture companies were sold in 2017. That is eight less than in 2016. The average transaction price in 2017 was 950,000 euros and was therefore a third higher than in 2016. The sold companies last year were also larger and were also sold considerably faster.

The greenhouse horticulture sector achieved good operating results in 2017. "The good business economics performance stimulates the willingness to invest. This means that the increase in scale in the sector continues and new construction projects are seen again," says Ard Klijsen, chairman of the NVM Vakgroep Agrarisch & Landelijk Vastgoed. "In addition, innovation and sustainability are prominent themes that attract a lot of investment."

The net operating result per square meter of greenhouse (the total of revenues with the total costs deducted) for 2017 is estimated at EUR 10.50 per square meter, almost one euro more than in 2016. In 2011, the net operating result per square meter of greenhouse was still negative. 

27 greenhouse horticulture companies were sold in 2017, eight fewer than in 2016. This may be partly due to the fact that there have been even fewer involuntary sales. Whereas the average transaction price in the Netherlands in 2016 was still 707,500 euros, this was 950,000 euros in 2017, an increase of one third.

The companies that were sold in the past year were on average larger than those in 2016. The average area of a sold greenhouse horticulture business was 4.4 hectares. However about one third did not exceed 2 hectares.

The time that a greenhouse horticulture company is on offer before it is sold has fallen from one year and three months in 2016 to eleven months in the past year. Nearly three-fourths of the sold greenhouse horticulture businesses were sold within one year. In 2016, this was only achieved with half of the companies.

At the end of 2017, 49 greenhouse horticulture companies were on offer by NVM brokers compared with 57 at the end of 2016. The asking price in 2017 was on average 995,000 euros. The greenhouse horticulture businesses for sale at the end of 2017 had already been for sale for an average of one year and three months.

There are differences in regional terms. The greenhouse horticulture sector is clustered in concentration areas. This is reflected in the regional distribution of the transactions of companies in this segment. A third of these in 2017 were in South Holland, another third in the provinces of North Holland and North Brabant together and the remainder spread over the rest of the country, especially Gelderland and Drenthe. Outside the concentration areas there is less demand and transactions are somewhat more difficult to conclude. This is expressed, for example, in the longer sales time.

In general, greenhouse horticulture businesses are mainly bought by entrepreneurs who want to expand. They prefer to invest in larger locations within the concentration areas. Higher prices are also achieved in the concentration areas, particularly in South Holland (€ 1,700,000 per company). This is partly because an average greenhouse horticulture company here is slightly larger than average and because the companies here generally perform well with a good location. In East Netherlands too, relatively large and expensive companies were sold last year.

Particularly the beautiful, larger and modern companies with a favorable location within a concentration area were sold in 2017 for higher prices. Companies with a unique product and organic greenhouse horticulture companies are generally also in demand. Companies that are not very current due to, for example, aging or an unfavorable location showed a stabilization of prices. The 'For Sale' signs are also concentrated in a number of provinces, most of them in South Holland and in addition to those, mainly in North Holland, North Brabant and Limburg.