Argentum Recaps Conner

New York, NY – December 2, 2014 – The Argentum Group, a New York-based private equity firm (“Argentum”), announced today that it has completed the recapitalization of Conner Industries, Inc. (“Conner” or the “Company”), wherein Argentum and its partners acquired over 90% ownership of the Company.  With sales of over $140,000,000, Conner is a leading supplier of industrial lumber, dimensional cut stock, custom manufactured wood packaging, and wood byproducts such as mulch, chips and biomass fuels.

In connection with the transaction, Mr. J. Anthony (Tony) Petrelli has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Conner. He has served as Conner’s Chief Operating Officer since early 2012.  Mr. Petrelli brings over 30 years of experience in the specialty packaging and forest products industries, previously serving as President and COO of CardPak, Inc. and Senior Vice President of Caraustar Industries.  An advocate for the forest products & packaging industries, Mr. Petrelli also served as a 14-year board member, and from 2008 to 2010 was Chairman of the Board, of the Paperboard Packaging Council.

“The completion of the recapitalization and our continued partnership with Argentum will help Conner accelerate growth and broaden its reach into new markets,” said Mr. Petrelli.  “While we are well positioned to grow our traditional industrial wood business, we also see significant opportunities for Conner to leverage its infrastructure and expertise to deliver a wider range of industrial packaging products, solutions, and services.  Accordingly, we plan to augment our organic growth initiatives with an aggressive product and service driven acquisition program,” added Mr. Petrelli.

Walter H. Barandiaran, a Managing Partner at Argentum added, “Conner Industries has been successfully delivering industrial wood products and solutions to its customers for over 25 years.  We look forward to working closely with Tony and his management team, and assisting in the execution of Conner’s acquisition strategy, and leveraging their extensive experience in the specialty packaging industry, to fully unlock Conner’s growth potential.”

Conner is seeking to acquire companies that provide specialty packaging products, solutions, and services, with a particular interest in companies and facilities that provide one or more of the following services or capabilities:

• Strong supply side relationships with Pine and Hardwood lumber mills
• Service oriented custom pallet, skid, crate and box manufacturing with wood and/or other materials such as plastic, metal and corrugated
• Other corrugated, paperboard and molded fiber products and services for industrial and distribution strategies and applications
• Engineering, 3PL and Logistics capabilities and strategies

Please contact Tony Petrelli or Chris Leong, Principal and Head of Business Development at Argentum, with any suggestions or opportunities that fit the above profile.

 

About Conner Industries:

Conner Industries is a leading provider of industrial wood products and services to the industrial and materials handling industries.  The company specializes in supplying cut industrial lumber (softwoods, hardwoods, and panel woods) needed for pallet, crate & skid parts, or fully assembled wooden pallets, crates, skids and industrial containers. Conner services its customers nationwide from 14 manufacturing plants located in nine states: AL, FL, GA, MS, OK, SC, TN, TX, and VA. For more information please visit www.connerindustries.com

About Argentum:

Argentum is a New York-based private equity firm that provides growth capital to rapidly growing service companies at the smaller end of the middle market. Argentum pursues buy-and-build strategies for businesses that can be scaled into much larger enterprises through a combination of organic growth and targeted acquisition efforts.  Argentum has a successful track record of building industry-leading companies in business outsourcing, technology-enabled, healthcare services, logistics & transportation, and industrial / environmental services. Since 1990, Argentum has invested in over 70 companies and supported over 150 acquisitions made by its portfolio companies. For more information, please visit www.argentumgroup.com