H.I.G. Capital has completed the sale of its portfolio company American Hardwood Industries to Baillie Lumber.
American Hardwood Industries (AHI) is a manufacturer and supplier of hardwood lumber in the United States and abroad. AHI is the largest producer in its regions with over 100 million board feet of annual capacity across eleven sawmills and kiln drying facilities in Virginia and throughout the Appalachian territory. AHI is a vertically-integrated supplier that sells its products under the Augusta, Blue Triangle and Graham Lumber brands, as well as under its Cross Creek wholesale trading division. The company also sells hardwood flooring under the Montebello Flooring brand. AHI was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Waynesboro, VA (www.ahwood.com).
Baillie Lumber is one of North America’s largest hardwood lumber manufactures, distributors and exporters. The company is based near Buffalo in Hamburg, NY (www.baillie.com).
H.I.G. originally invested in AHI, then Augusta Lumber, in 2006. Since that time, the company has completed multiple add-on acquisitions that more than doubled the size of the business and also invested heavily in manufacturing best practices.
“H.I.G. has been an outstanding and committed partner to American Hardwood Industries. Through a series of add-on acquisitions and operational investments, H.I.G.’s support has helped AHI to more than double its revenues, upgrade its equipment, invest in business processes, develop its brands and expand its international reach to establish the company as a leading exporter of US hardwoods,” said John O’Dea, CEO of AHI.
H.I.G. Capital specializes in providing capital to small and medium-sized companies and invests in management-led buyouts and recapitalizations of manufacturing or service businesses. H.I.G. Capital has more than $15 billion of capital under management. The firm was founded in 1993 and is based in Miami with additional offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New York, San Francisco, London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, and Rio de Janeiro (www.higcapital.com).
© 2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 3-26-14
