NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Lignetics Inc. (“Lignetics”), the largest consumer-focused wood pellet manufacturer in the U.S., and EagleTree Capital (“EagleTree”), on behalf of its private equity fund EagleTree Partners V, announced today that EagleTree has acquired Lignetics from Taglich Private Equity and Mill Road Capital. Lignetics will be a new platform investment in the EagleTree portfolio, and Lignetics’ operations, management team and personnel will remain unchanged following the EagleTree investment. Co-investors, including Alpha Associates, Bullingham Capital, Farol Asset Management, Manulife Investment Management, Misland Capital, Northwestern Mutual Capital, and Thrivent Financial, are investing alongside EagleTree. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Headquartered in Louisville, Colorado, Lignetics is the largest consumer-focused wood pellet manufacturer in the U.S., with a production capacity of nearly 1.4 million tons per year. Lignetics has been upcycling wood waste into home heating pellets since 1983 and into premium barbecue pellets since 1990. Annually, Lignetics diverts over 2,000,000 tons of wood waste, or more than 100,000 truckloads, into renewable, sustainable, value-add consumer products. Today, Lignetics is dedicated to supplying innovative products to its consumers under various brands, including Green Supreme (residential heating), Lignetics (residential heating), Bear Mountain BBQ (home grilling), Lumber Jack Grilling Pellets (home grilling), and Catalyst Pet (high performance sustainable cat litter). The company is committed to providing the highest quality eco-friendly and 100% percent natural product offerings across its business lines and brand portfolio.
“We are thrilled to partner with EagleTree and leverage their extensive consumer products expertise to further accelerate our growth,” said Brett Jordan, Chief Executive Officer of Lignetics. “EagleTree’s partnership will allow us to expand our manufacturing capacity to better serve our customers who depend on Lignetics for home heating. We see incredible opportunities for growth in our BBQ pellet brands, Catalyst cat litter, and other new products in development, and we look forward to working with EagleTree to continue executing our strategy. I would like to thank Taglich PE and Mill Road Capital and in particular Will Morris and Doug Hailey for their tremendous support and commitment to our shared vision. Together we have created an industry leading business and I look forward to building on that success with the EagleTree team.”
“We are delighted to add Lignetics to EagleTree’s portfolio and to partner with Brett Jordan and the outstanding management team at Lignetics. Lignetics has built a market leading position in the consumer wood pellet industry, upcycling over 2,000,000 tons of wood waste per year into sustainable, all-natural products. We are confident the company is well positioned to capitalize on attractive tailwinds in the residential pellet heating, pellet grilling and wood-based pet litter markets,” said George L. Majoros, Jr., Co-Managing Partner at EagleTree. “We believe the next phase of Lignetics’ growth will deliver substantial value to its customers, partners and employees, and we look forward to supporting their tremendous momentum.”
“It has been a pleasure partnering with Brett and the Lignetics management team over the past few years,” said William Morris, Managing Director of Taglich Private Equity. “We are proud of the business that we have built together, thrilled that Lignetics has found a strong home with EagleTree and are excited for what the future holds for the team.”
“We are proud of the company that the Lignetics team has built and thankful for the hard work and dedication of its employees,” said Justin Jacobs, Managing Director of Mill Road Capital. “The team at Taglich Private Equity have been great partners and we look forward to Lignetics' continued success with EagleTree.”
Raymond James Consumer Investment Banking team acted as exclusive financial advisor, Dentons Durham Jones Pinegar acted as legal advisor, and Moss Adams acted as due diligence advisor to Lignetics. Jones Day acted as legal advisor and Alvarez & Marsal acted as due diligence advisor to EagleTree.
About Lignetics
Lignetics, headquartered in Louisville, Colorado, is the largest residential wood pellet manufacturing company in the U.S. The company’s innovative eco-friendly offering includes premium wood pellets for super-efficient home heating, barbecue pellets that naturally seal in perfect wood-fired flavor, and a superior all-natural high-performance cat litter. Lignetics delivers these innovative all-natural products through national retail partners and directly to consumers via the only national network of wood pellet manufacturing plants spread across the U.S. and Canada with 22 different plant locations. For more information on Lignetics and all of its products, visit www.lignetics.com.
About EagleTree Capital
EagleTree Capital is a leading New York-based middle-market private equity firm with assets under management of $4.8 billion as of December 31, 2020. The firm has completed over 35 private equity investments and over 75 add-on transactions over the past 20+ years. EagleTree primarily invests in North America in the following sectors: media and business services, consumer, and water and specialty industrial. For more information, visit www.eagletree.com.
About Taglich Private Equity
Taglich Private Equity is a New York-based, value-oriented financial sponsor that is focused on investing in the lower middle-market. They specialize in recapitalizations, management buyouts, and majority equity investments, targeting manufacturing, business services and consumer products companies. TPE concentrates on finding sound investment opportunities, leveraging a business’s strengths, identifying new market opportunities and providing strategic support to capable management teams. TPE looks to partner with management teams that can take advantage of their expertise and background in order to optimize their company's growth potential and create long term value. For more information, please visit www.taglichpe.com.
About Mill Road Capital
Mill Road Capital is a private investment firm focused on investing in and partnering with small publicly traded companies in the US and Canada. Since its founding in 2004, the firm has successfully executed its investment strategy of identifying and partnering with management teams that are focused on long-term value creation. The limited partners of Mill Road’s funds include a prominent and highly respected group of state and corporate pension funds, foundations, and endowments. Mill Road’s current portfolio consists of companies in a broad range of industries, including retail, manufacturing, business services, and consumer products.