Owning Nurseries to Make Money

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Amy Feldman, Family Tree; Jonathan Saperstein began his efforts to professionalize and dominate the nursery industry with a hostile takeover of a grower -- from his dad. Fornes, Feb 28, 2018.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/amy ... built-a-powerhouse/

Quote:

"In 2014, Jonathan Saperstein, then a 27-year-old executive at and minority shareholder in TreeTown USA [whose headquarters is in Houston], a decorative tree grower * * * The company's founder--his father, David Saperstein, who had vaulted onto The Forbes 400 after he sold his previous company, Metro Networks, for $900 million--seemed disengaged [to the son].

"When Jonathan offered to buy the company * * * David responded with what Jonathan calls 'an outrageous number' and the declaration that it was not for sale.

"he decided to stand up to his dad.  In October 2014, Jonathan, with the help of his sisters, Stefanie and Alexis, filed papers to force the company into involuntary bankruptcy. They could do that because TreeTown's parent company, Seven S Capital, controlled by their father, owed $21 million to three trusts in their names. David never saw it coming. The evening of the day the papers were filed, he called Jonathan and started discussing the terms of his surrender. They quickly reached an agreement. * ** The purchase price, including assumption of debts, was around $50 million. At a companywide meeting called to announce the new ownership, a TreeTown executive brought Kool-Aid and cups and declared, 'We're ready to drink the Kool-Aid!' [Kool-Aid is for kids -- here the son]

"Since then [2014], with savvy acquisitions and tech-enabled operations, TreeTown has leapfrogged past competitors to become the country's largest tree producer and one of its biggest nurseries. * * * Revenue is expected to surpass $120 million in 2018, with operating profits around 15%, above those of most competitors. * * * the roughly $18 billion [nursery] industry remains populated largely by underfunded mom-and-pop nurseries.  

"He and his sisters, who have no operating role in the business, own equal stakes with no outside investors. * * *David founded TreeTown in 2000

Note:
(a) David I Saperstein
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_I._Saperstein
(1941- )

Quote: "he founded Metro Networks [which remains based in based in Houston, Texas all these years] in 1978. the company grew to serve over 1,500 radio stations [presumably to sell traffic reports to the stations] in the US In 1996, Saperstein decided to take Metro Networks public under the Nasdaq exchange, stock symbol MTNT. He made his fortune when he sold the company to Westwood One in 1999 for $1.25 billion in stock [the latter sold Metro Network to Clear Channel Communications in 2011: Wikipedia]. Now he operates tree farms in Texas and Florida: 'It's a growing business,' he once told a reporter for Forbes magazine.

* This Wiki page was probably written before 2014. See quotation 3. In federal law -- no state law exists, because United States constitution assigns it, as well as patent and copyright, to federal government -- about bankruptcy allows both a debtor (initiating voluntary bankruptcy) and a creditor (involuntary bankruptcy) to file for bankruptcy of the debtor So as to divide properties).  
(b) David and his wife at the time (Jonathan's mother) built "a 12-bedroom château called Fleur de Lys."

fleur-de-lis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleur-de-lis
(section 1 Usages; The fleur-de-lis' symbolic origins with French monarchs may stem from the baptismal lily used in the crowning of King Clovis I [c 466-511])
(c) The reason I introduce this report to you is the prices a tree sells, as it grows. See the graphic on Web page 3.