Cash flow at sod business leads to sale

BRADENTON — After five years of slogging through the recession, the owners of Dieter's Sod Service, Carole and Dieter Zoellner, have settled on an exit strategy: They sold 75% of the business to a Hillsborough County agricultural firm.

Terms of the deal weren't released, though Carole Zoellner says it was a purchase of shares, not assets. The Zoellners, who founded the sod installation company in Bradenton in 1994 and are well-known in the Manatee County building and construction community, will retain 25% of the company's shares after the acquisition.

The new majority owner of Dieter's Sod is Ruskin-based Bay Breeze Group, which includes a farming operation, a sod business and a fertilizer company. The acquired operation, at least for the near-term, will be renamed Dieter's Sod & Landscaping. The Zoellners have agreed to stay with the business for at least two years.

Carole Zoellner says while it has been “wonderful” to co-own her business for nearly two decades, the recession has been especially tough on her and Dieter Zoellner, 68. Annual revenues dropped 59% over the past six years, from $6.7 million in 2006 to $2.8 million in 2011. The couple put the business up for sale in early 2012 and began discussions with Bay Breeze executives in the fall.

Zoellner says the toughest part of navigating the recession has been managing costs. “The cash flow has just been horrendous,” Zoellner tells the Business Observer. “You pay what you have to pay, which is payroll, insurance and utilities. Then you look at it and go I don't have anything left for anything else.”

The renamed Dieter's Sod & Landscaping will still serve commercial and residential customers in the Manatee-Sarasota region. It will add landscaping services.