STAMFORD, Conn., and WILLOW GROVE, Pa. - In a joint announcement today, Jan. 24, 2001, The F.A. Bartlett Tree Expert Company of Stamford, Conn., and Asplundh Tree Expert Co. of Willow Grove, Pa., announced the signing of a letter of intent related to the acquisition of certain assets of The F.A. Bartlett Tree Expert Company's utility line clearance operations in the United States.
The utility line clearance business involves providing vegetation management services for utility companies. Bartlett has been in the line clearance business for 79 years and most of its line clearance personnel will be employed by or provide services to Asplundh. With regard to customer contracts assigned as part of the sale, Asplundh will assume responsibility for the performance of those Bartlett contracts to provide line clearance services to its customers.
“The sale of this segment of our business is in keeping with our original mission and focus on the scientific approach to landscape tree and shrub care and will enable us to expand our markets and range of services in that direction,” said Robert Bartlett, Jr., grandson of the firm's founder. “Realignment of our resources will provide important opportunities to make more productive use of the R.A. Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories for the benefit of our residential, commercial, institutional and municipal client base.”
Bartlett, founded in 1907, operates in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, providing landscape tree and shrub care. Privately held, the company is managed by the third generation of the founding family.
Asplundh Tree Expert Co. has been providing vegetation management and related services to the utility industry for more than 70 years and with its affiliated subsidiaries employs approximately 25,000 people in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
KPMG Corporate Finance LLC of Philadelphia served as Bartlett's financial advisor in the transaction. Both parties are working jointly toward the completion of a definitive purchase agreement and anticipate the acquisition will be completed in late February, according to the release.
For more information on the companies visit the following links:
- F.A. Bartlett Tree Expert Company - www.bartlett.com; and
- Asplundh Tree Expert Co. - www.asplundh.com.
