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Private investment firm The Watermill Group, Boston, Ma., has completed an investment in Musser Lumber and its principal operating subsidiary, Musser Biomass and Wood Products, 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, Va., 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 & Co.
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.
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.
