NEW YORK, NY – Mill Rock Capital, a growth and operations-oriented private equity firm, announced that it has formed a new growth platform, Mill Rock Advanced Materials LLC, focused on investments in the advanced materials and solutions markets of industrial additives.
Simultaneously, Mill Rock announced that Mill Rock Advanced Materials has acquired Asbury Carbons, Inc. of the Riddle Family and the Asbury Carbons, Inc. Employee Stock Ownership Plan. (“ESOP”).
In connection with the transaction, Stephen A. Riddle has made a significant investment in the company and will remain on its board of directors. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Asbury, founded in 1895 by Harry M. Riddle and headquartered in Asbury, NJ, is a leading supplier of advanced materials, specializing in carbon additive solutions for a wide range of end markets and applications.
The company is North America’s largest processor and supplier of natural and synthetic graphite and cokes and the world’s largest independent graphite processor.
Asbury sources these materials globally and operates 12 facilities where the company processes and distributes a wide range of application-specific materials and additives to customers’ exacting performance requirements.
Asbury products are used in polymers and rubbers, paints and coatings, lubricants, specialty ceramics, friction products, insulators and other materials. The company’s additives impart differentiating qualities alone or in combination with other materials, such as thermal and electrical conductivity, lubrication, pore-forming, filtration, purification and strength enhancement.
Asbury’s manufacturing and distribution locations are located in the US, Mexico, Canada and the Netherlands, with sales offices in North America, Europe and Asia.
Natural and synthetic graphite has wide uses in many industries and applications. Global demand for graphite is expected to increase due to ongoing trends in low-emission power generation, sustainable transportation, lightweighting, electrification, digitization, and other factors.
Graphite is a critical raw material in batteries, solar panels and wind turbines, as well as an additive in lightweight composites in aerospace and automotive applications.
Graphite’s conductive and thermal properties are important in electrification and digitization applications, such as heat management in electronics and as an anode material in lithium-ion batteries. Its filtration properties play a key role in reducing carbon emissions and in the treatment and purification of water.
Graphite and related products, such as graphene, can also improve the performance of other advanced technologies in aerospace, energy, construction and other markets.
In connection with the transaction, Mill Rock has named Gregg A. Jones as Asbury’s president and chief executive officer. Previously, Gregg was CEO of EP Minerals. Scott Palm has joined as Senior Vice President of Strategy and Innovation, having previously served in a similar role at EP Minerals. Eric Walmet, formerly of Ingevity Corporation, has joined Asbury as senior vice president of operations.
All positions are new or previously vacant.
Noah Nichelson will continue as president and chief operating officer. Ed Rose, senior partner at Mill Rock and former president of Ingevity Corporation, will join Asbury’s board of directors.
“I am excited to join the Asbury team and see a very bright future for our business and the graphite industry,” said Jones. “This is an exciting day for Asbury associates and customers as we embark on a new chapter of growth.
“Asbury has cultivated a market-leading position for many years through an unmatched focus on customer success and product innovation. Going forward, we will seek to accelerate growth through additional investment in people, applications, processes and systems, as well as through selective acquisitions”.
“Mill Rock is the ideal partner for the success of the Asbury organization, our people and our customers. Their continued investment and additional resources will support our unwavering commitment to providing our customers with the the same high-quality, custom-made products they’ve relied on for the past 128 years, while developing new advanced materials and additive solutions for next-generation challenges. Our industry is entering a growth phase in which differentiated graphite applications are in high demand, and Asbury is optimally suited to meet those needs,” said President Nichelson.
Mill Rock co-founders Christopher Whalen and Adi Pekmezovic stated, “We are incredibly honored that the Riddle family has entrusted us with the business they started nearly 130 years ago. We look forward to continuing their legacy and investing in the next phase of the company’s growth and product innovation. Asbury pioneered the North American graphite market and is the consummate foundation on which to build an advanced materials platform.”
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