Davey Tree Acquires Kerns Brothers

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The Davey Tree Expert Company has acquired Kerns Brothers Tree Service & Landscaping, a residential tree care company based near Wilmington, Delaware. This is Davey’s 8th acquisition in the last year and the second in 2015.

Jim Stief, executive vice president, U.S. residential operations, said Davey is committed to future growth—organically and through acquisitions. “We will continue to focus on high-quality companies with customer demographics that are similar to our own, within markets where we want to grow density,” he said. “Our intent is always to pick up talented, safety-conscious employees intent on providing a high level of customer service.”

Stief stressed the acquisition gives Kerns Brothers employees more opportunities to grow as industry leaders. “We have no doubt they will benefit from Davey’s diversified service offerings, technology and equipment resources, research and development capability and of course the culture of employee ownership.”

Kerns Brothers is more than 40 years old, and has approximately two dozen employees providing residential tree care, plant health care and landscaping to its clients in the greater Wilmington area. “We are excited about the direction we are heading,” John Kerns said. “I want to assure our clients that we will continue to provide reliable and exceptional service. Additionally, our clients can now benefit from more comprehensive service offerings, including access to the Davey Institute, an industry-leading diagnostic and research facility.”

Davey’s David Balint will help manage the Kerns Brothers office during the transition.