Owen Towne talks Phoenix Enviro Care acquisition

In an email sent out on Aug. 16th, Phoenix Environmental Care announced to its employees that the company had been acquired by United Phosphorous Inc. “We are excited to have a more comprehensive product line to help provide additional utility and choice to the market place,” the statement read.

Phoenix Environmental Care, a post-patent company serving the turf and ornamental market since 2004, will continue with business as usual, company president Owen Towne told Golfdom.

“Phoenix Environmental Care will operate autonomously, we’re not going to change our strategy,” Towne says. “All of our employees are going to be retained. This was always looked at as a good arrangement for all the people involved with Phoenix. This is a good deal for everyone.”

Towne says the acquisition – which originated as talks of a collaboration before UPI decided an acquisition would be better – will afford Phoenix Environmental some new opportunities. Among those opportunities, Towne listed access to a wider portfolio of products; access to more capital for research; and better manufacturing facilities to bring new products to market quicker.

“We’re going to maintain Phoenix Environmental Care,” Towne says. “This will just increase benefits for superintendents and our distributors.”

One Phoenix Environmental Care employee, speaking on condition of anonymity, echoed Towne’s feelings, saying that the mood within the company was that of opportunity, not adversity.

Phoenix Environmental Care (www.phoenixenvcare.com) manufactures fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, PGRs and aquatic chemicals.