Conner Industries Completes the Acquisition of Continental Timber Company

Conner Industries Completes the Acquisition of Continental Timber Company Acquisition Expands Operations to Kansas

FORT WORTH, Texas, Tuesday, August 2, 2016 — Conner Industries, Inc. (“Conner” or the “Company”), a national lumber processor and leading provider of integrated packaging solutions, announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Continental Timber Company (“Continental”), a regional lumber processor founded in 1978 by Herb Rea and Ronald Watkins.

As a result of the acquisition, Conner’s operations have now been expanded to Wichita, KS. The Company is now strategically positioned for new growth in the Midwest and is better able to service its existing customers located in KS, MO, CO, OK and IA.  With more than 650 employees, Conner now services over 1,900 customers nationwide from 13 manufacturing plants located in 10 states, and processes/sells annually more than 330 million board feet (MBF).

“We welcome all Continental employees as members of Conner’s growing family. Over the past 38 years, Continental has grown steadily due to its deep customer-centric focus and hard-working culture, which is similar to Conner’s. We are excited to combine forces so that we can continue to grow organically and build on a tradition of excellent service, quality products, and deep expertise in the lumber industry,” said Joseph McCormick, CEO. “To accelerate organic growth, Conner has established an attractive sales commission structure, and we are actively seeking and hiring experienced salesmen and lumber traders,” added Mr. McCormick.

“Having recently completed two acquisitions – Golden Triangle and Continental Timber – Conner intends to continue to expand and deepen its geographic coverage through strategic acquisitions. Conner has a strong balance sheet, as well as the full support of Wells Fargo, our commercial lenders, and Argentum, a private equity firm and Conner’s majority owner,” said Kurien Jacob, Chairman of the Board. “We welcome all acquisition ideas and opportunities from business brokers and investment bankers,” added Mr. Jacob.

“We are pleased to note that in the last six months, since his arrival at Conner, Joe is transforming the culture and DNA of the Company, making it more responsive to customers’ needs and providing better quality products and services,” said Walter Barandiaran, Argentum’s Managing Partner. “Joe is creating an excellent working environment throughout the Company, from the sales and trading floors to each of the plants, and has established a leveled playing field for all employees to achieve success and prosper,” added Mr. Barandiaran.

About Conner Industries, Inc.

 Conner Industries is a leading provider of industrial wood products, packaging, and services to the industrial and materials handling industries for the last 30 years. The company specializes in supplying cut lumber (softwoods, hardwoods, and panel woods) needed for pallet, crate and skid parts, and fully assembled products, such as pallets, crates, skids and industrial containers. Conner services its customers nationwide from 13 manufacturing plants located in 10 states: FL, GA, KS, MS, NE, OK, SC, TN, TX, and VA. Conner is one of The Argentum Group’s portfolio companies.  Please visit: www.connerindustries.com

 About The Argentum Group

Argentum is a New York-based private equity firm that provides growth capital to rapidly growing service companies. Argentum pursues buy-and-build strategies for businesses that can be scaled into much larger enterprises through a combination of organic growth and strategic acquisitions. Argentum has a successful track record of building industry-leading companies in several industrial sectors, logistics & transportation, environmental sectors, business outsourcing, technology-enabled and healthcare services. Since 1990, Argentum has invested in over 80 companies, and has supported over 180 add-on strategic acquisitions made by its portfolio companies. Please visit: www.argentumgroup.com