Private-equity firm KKR & Co had agreed to acquire Brickman Group Ltd from owner Leonard Green & Partners LP. Leonard had acquired Brickman earlier in 2006 but had not disclosed any financial details regarding the matter, according to Bloomberg data. The deal to purchase the landscape-maintenance company was valued at USD1.36 billion.

KKR's head of consumer-products investing Simon Brown said in a statement released today, "We are excited to invest in the company and look forward to working closely with the Brickman leadership team to continue to build on the company's market-leading position."

KKR had received advise on the acquisition deal overall by Credit Suisse Group AG. KKR also tapped Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP to act as its legal adviser for the deal. Gaithersburg, Maryland-based Brickman, on the other hand, had hired Barclays Plc, Morgan Stanley, Latham & Watkins LLP and Dechert LLP as its financial advisers regarding the deal.

The private equity fund led by US businessmen Henry Kravis and George Roberts would be sourcing funding for Brickman's acquisition from its 11th North American buyout fund. KKR would also be tapping other financial pools to add into its financing to acquire Brickman, the private equity firm said. KKR expected to close its North American buyout before the year ends. The fund would raise over USD8.3 billion, KKR said last month.

Bloomberg observed that private-equity firms had been focusing on placing investments in landscaping businesses as the construction industry had been recovering from a slump following the 2008 financial crisis. National data that was released on November 8 revealed that the housing market in the US had been recovering and rose to 19% since last year. Don Gogel-led buyout firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC just acquired last month a majority interest in the landscaping unit of Deere & Co. The deal was valued at USD465 million.