LOS ANGELES – February 19, 2015 – Roll Global today announced the acquisition of Mercier California, the U.S. operations of the Mercier Group, one of the worldwide leaders in the grapevine nursery industry.  The acquisition of this well-established nursery located in California’s North Coast expands the vine business of Roll Global, which also owns Vintage Nurseries, a producer of grafted grapevine rootstock for the wine grape, table grape and raisin markets.

Under the terms of the agreement, substantially all of the assets of the U.S.-based Mercier California business will transfer to Roll Global and continue to operate under the Mercier California name.  The acquisition has officially closed.  Financial terms of the agreement are not being disclosed.

“Our acquisition of Mercier California gives us a high-quality operation in the North Coast of California where we will continue to offer ENTAV-INRA and other sought-after, high-end wine varieties to growers,” said Rick Burnes, Senior Vice President of Roll’s Vine Nursery Operations.  “We look forward to having a close relationship with the Mercier family and learning from their years of experience.  Mercier is highly respected and has a track record of innovation, steady performance and strong vine customer relationships.”

As part of the acquisition, Roll Global and the Mercier Group will enter into a partnership to share knowledge and both process and product innovation. In addition, under Roll Global the Mercier California business will continue to offer the latest ENTAV-INRA certified varieties.  IFV (Institut Francais de la Vigne et du Vin) is the national agency of France responsible for the quality of wine grape varieties. 

Mercier California was created in 2006 in Vacaville, CA as part of Mercier Group’s expansion in the United States.  Roll’s acquisition of Mercier’s U.S. operation includes land located west of Sacramento, CA in the Suisun Valley.  With a rich history of high quality grapes for winemaking, this valley resides in the area known as the “California North Coast,” which includes Napa and Sonoma counties.  Mercier California provides over a million vines a year to winemakers, by propagating greenvines, dormant grapevines and rootstock rootings for field grafting. 

About Roll Global

Roll Global LLC is a privately held $3.5 billion international company focused on healthy brands for healthy lifestyles.  Our products include fresh fruit and tree nuts; premium beverages such as artesian water, California wine and pure pomegranate juices and teas; and floral delivery. Over the last decade, Roll Global has turned Wonderful Pistachios into one of America’s top-selling salty snacks; made Wonderful Halos the newest sensation in the produce aisle; transformed the healthy pomegranate and POM Wonderful into a worldwide phenomenon; and grown FIJI Water into the country’s No. 1 imported bottled water.  Roll Global’s diverse holdings make us the world’s largest grower of tree nuts, America’s largest citrus grower, and the world’s largest flower delivery service with the Teleflora network of florists. To learn more about Roll Global, visit www.roll.com.

About Mercier Group

The Mercier Group is one of the worldwide leaders of grapevine nurseries and through Mercier California has propagated healthy and high quality plants in the U.S. since 2006.  The Mercier Group is committed to continuous improvement of its production process to achieve an excellent product with low environmental impact.