BOSTON, May 15, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- The Watermill Group, a strategy-driven private
investment firm, is proud to announce it has completed an
investment in Musser Lumber and its principal operating
subsidiary, Musser Biomass and Wood
Products (collectively, "Musser"), the mid-Atlantic region's
leading producer of premium dried hardwood fiber and associated
converted products.
"Musser is thrilled to partner with the Watermill Group on our
next chapter of growth," said Ed
Musser, President and CEO of Musser Biomass and Wood
Products. "We're confident that the Watermill Group's industry
expertise and strategic approach will support and accelerate our
vision to redefine and expand the uses for dry wood fiber."
Musser is strategically located in Rural Retreat, Virginia in the heart of the
mid-Atlantic hardwood forest. Growing from a small sawmill business
to an innovative recycled biomass company, Musser offers some of
the most eco-friendly and highest quality dry wood fiber on the
market. Using a state-of-the-art low temperature drying technology,
Musser produces a sustainable, differentiated and uncontaminated
fiber for use in composite manufactured wood products, grilling
pellets, residential heating pellets and briquettes, animal bedding
and other existing growth markets. The company is actively
exploring new applications that are emerging for clean, dry biomass
fiber.
"Musser represents a compelling opportunity to invest in a
sustainable business that serves growing markets and has exciting
avenues for growth," said Robert
Ackerman, Senior Partner, Watermill Group. "For more than
half a century, Musser Lumber Company has been a respected supplier
in the lumber industry. In recent years, it has become a pioneer in
biomass wood fiber, trailblazing new paths to success both in
products and processes. The Watermill Group couldn't be more
excited about the opportunities ahead for this partnership."
Debt for this transaction was provided by Energy Impact
Partners' Credit Group. Pinnacle Financial Partners provided the
operating line of credit. Richter Consulting provided financial due
diligence advice to Watermill. Jasso
Lopez provided legal counsel and Blais Halpert provided tax counsel to Watermill.
Musser Lumber Company received legal counsel from Gentry Locke and
advisory services from Brown Gibbons Lang & Company.
About the Watermill Group
The Watermill Group is a
strategy-driven private investment firm that helps companies
achieve their full potential through strategic transformation. For
more than four decades, the family owned and managed firm has been
acquiring, operating and improving companies. Watermill looks for
businesses in which it can apply a unique combination of strategic
insight and management expertise to re-imagine their future and
drive growth.
About Musser
The Mussers have been in the lumber
industry for over 50 years. Mike
Musser started the business in 1965 operating a sawmill in
Atkins, VA. In 1987, Mike sold the
sawmill and in 1993 started a new wholesale business with his sons,
Ed and Mick. Since then, the family business has experienced
amazing growth. For 25 years, the family operated a
state-of-the-art kiln drying facility along with lumber production
lines that supplied high quality Appalachian hardwood lumber to
their many customers throughout the U.S. and abroad. It was this
passion for the lumber and wood industry that caused the Mussers,
in 2020, to start a new company, Musser Biomass & Wood
Products. The company converts green hardwood chips and sawdust
into dry usable material and has quickly become a leader in the
market.
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SOURCE Watermill Group