Lignetics acquires Geneva Wood Fuels

Lignetics Inc. has announced the acquisition of the assets of GF Funding LLC (whose facility was formerly known as Geneva Wood Fuels), expanding its footprint into Maine and upper New England. Lignetics is the largest residential wood pellet manufacturing company in the U.S. which now has a production capacity of approximately 550,000 tons of wood pellets per year. The company is the only pellet manufacturing company that has wood pellet manufacturing plants on both the East Coast and the West Coast in six plant locations in the states of Maine, Oregon, Idaho, West Virginia and Virginia.

Ken Tucker, CEO of Lignetics stated, "Completing this acquisition is in line with our strategy to continue to expand our geographic footprint in the U.S. and remain the market leader in the residential wood pellet industry.” Tucker added, “Geneva has great customers which we look forward to continuing to support with the help of Jeff and Lucinda Allen and the rest of the team in Strong, Maine, whose goal is to continue to provide a superior product and excellent customer service.”

Financing for the transaction was provided by Taglich Private Equity LLC, management and Gladstone Capital Corporation, who provided subordinated debt and equity financing, along with Texas Capital Bank, who provided senior debt in support of the transaction. Will Morris, Managing Director of Taglich Private Equity noted that Lignetics continues to be interested in exploring additional add-on acquisitions. “We are excited about this acquisition and the growth opportunities in our business to support us in our goal of being the largest and highest quality residential wood pellet manufacturing company in the U.S.”, stated Morris.

Lignetics was founded in 1983 and is one of the founding pioneers of manufacturing premium wood pellets and Pres-to-Logs® fire logs for home heating. Lignetics offers a broad array of products that include wood fuel pellets in bagged and bulk form, animal bedding pellets and shavings, BBQ pellets in a variety of flavors and compressed wood bricks and logs. For more information on Lignetics and all its products, visit http://www.lignetics.com.

Lignetics acquired the wood pellet manufacturing facility of GF Funding LLC, based in Strong, Maine, which produces hardwood pellet fuel for residential and commercial use. The facility produces Maine's Choice and Geneva Wood Pellets brands of residential hardwood pellet fuel which can be found at independent retailers and select chains throughout the Northeast.

Taglich Private Equity LLC is a financial sponsor which has been investing since 2001 in lower middle market manufacturing, business service and consumer product companies. Taglich has completed transactions totaling over $500 million funded primarily with capital provided by Taglich Brothers, Inc., a full service brokerage firm managing capital in both public and private investments. Taglich focuses on finding sound investment opportunities with capable management and delivering significant growth resources and capital to portfolio investments. For more information on Taglich Private Equity LLC please visit http://www.taglichpe.com. #

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