Here is our annual recap of publicly-reported merger & acquisition transactions in the green industry for 2013: 
Wisconsin’s The Bruce Company sold its maintenance and snow services to Reliable Services, Inc. to focus on its landscape and nursery operations.
Davey Tree acquired S&S Tree and Landscaping Services of St. Paul, Minnesota.
Indiana-based Landscape Solutions merged with Advantage Lawn & Landscape.
Davey Tree acquired Raleigh’s Green Tree Experts.
Windpower Innovations acquired Arizona’s Cameo Landscaping.
Breckenridge Landscape of New Berlin, WI acquired Prairie Tree Landscaping.
LUSA Holdings (Landscapes USA) acquired Peach Tree Landscapes in Nashville, TN.
Arrow Exterminators acquired Bug Master of Vero Beach, Florida.
Bartlett Tree acquired Oregon’s Collier Arbor Care.
Village Nurseries Wholesale, LLC acquired Miramar Wholesale Nurseries, Inc. in San Diego.
The Greenery of Hilton Head, SC, acquired Elliott’s Landscaping of Savannah, GA.
Noon Turfcare acquired Premier Lawn Care’s residential business.
Noon Turfcare also acquired Fuller Green in Massachusetts.
Urban Outfitters announced that its upscale garden center unit, Terrain, would open its third location at the former site of Waterloo Gardens in Devon, PA.
ServiceMaster announced the planned spin-off of TruGreen Lawncare.
Bartlett Tree Experts Acquired Finch Tree Surgery in the Metro Los Angeles area.
Rentokil’s Ambius unit acquired Plantworks, Inc. in the Washington, DC metro area.
Quality Solutions, Inc. of Colwich, KS, acquired National Services, Inc. of Phoenix, AZ. Quality Solutions is a GridIron Capital portfolio company.
Brookside Mezzanine Partners invested in Yellowstone Landscape Group. Brookside provided subordinated debt to partially refinance Yellowstone’s existing debt. Yellowstone is a GridIron Capital portfolio company.
Enviro-Serv, Inc. of Tampa, FL, announced letters of intent Inland Pest Control of Lakeland, FL and All American Lawn and Property Maintenance of Tampa, FL.
Private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice acquired a majority interest in John Deere Landscapes.
KKR&Co. acquired The Brickman Group, Ltd. From Leonard Green and Partners and other shareholders for $1.6 billion.
Greater Texas Landscapes and Hadden Landscapes merged as a part of Tucson-based The Groundskeeper, a 100% employee owned company.
The Brickman Group acquired Matheny Commercial Lawn Maintenance of Dallas, Texas.
Griffin Land & Nurseries, Inc. completed the sale of the landscape nursery growing operations of its Imperial Nurseries unit to Monrovia Nursery Company.
TruGreen Lawncare does not typically announce its acquisitions, but it did sharply curtail its acquisition activity in 2013. Based on a review of ServiceMaster’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, it appears that TruGreen ‘s acquisition volume was down sharply to less than $700,000 in 2013 compared to $5.6 million in 2012 and 11.7 million in 2011.
Biz BuySell.com reported 163 closed transactions in the lawn and landscape sector in 2013 compared to 150 in 2012. BizBuySell typically includes relatively small transactions.
If you know of green industry business sales transactions which should be reported in our list, please contact us.