Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. promoted Dimiter Todorov, a company veteran of nearly 15 years, to general counsel, chief compliance officer and corporate secretary.
Todorov replaced Ivan Smith this month in an online listing of the company’s executive leadership. He took the role in December after serving as vice president of legal since 2015, the Marysville, Ohio-based company disclosed in a securities filing.
Scotts specializes in lawn care and home agricultural products is trying to pivot after ramping up production during the pandemic, when the company capitalized on a US housing boom and a surge in interest in outdoor activities such as gardening. Scotts is expected to announce its quarterly financial results Wednesday.
The company, Smith, and Todorov didn’t respond to comment requests. Neither lawyer was among the six highest-paid executives at Scotts last year.
Todorov was born and raised in Bulgaria during communist rule before the fall of the Soviet Union, according to a 2016 profile by the trade publication Modern Counsel.
The son of a Bulgarian prosecutor, Todorov attended law school in the country before emigrating to the US with his parents and settling in the Midwest.
He went on to spend a dozen years working for McGrath North Mullin & Kratz, an Omaha-based law firm. Todorov made partner at the firm before joining Scotts as general counsel of the company’s international business unit in 2008.
That same year Scotts promoted Vincent Brockman to its top legal role, one he held until 2013, when Smith took on the position he would have for the next decade.
During that time Scotts expanded its business. Jones Day advised Scotts on its $450 million acquisition in 2018 of Sunlight Supply Inc. The company, a top US distributor of hydroponics products for cannabis growers, was folded into Hawthorne, a Scotts subsidiary serving the legal weed industry.
Scotts has faced legal challenges over some of its products, as well as scrutiny surrounding Roundup, a weedkiller the company markets on behalf of Monsanto Co., an agribusiness giant sold to Bayer AG.
The mass tort litigation related to Roundup has so far spared Scotts, which has publicly asserted its support for Bayer and declared that its partnership with the company indemnifies it against liability.
Barnes & Thornburg, Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, and Jones Day have collectively had a role on nearly 50% of cases involving Scotts in US federal courts within the last five years, according to Bloomberg Law data.
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