Strateline Industries, a Rogers, Ark.-based manufacturer of nonwoven substrates from recycled
materials, has acquired Wagoner, Okla.-based Sustainable Solutions Inc. (SSI), its upstream
supplier of regenerated fiber from textile waste, from Meriturn Partners LLC – an investment firm
with offices in Raleigh, N.C., and San Francisco that specializes in corporate restructurings,
turnarounds and recapitalizations. Meriturn invested in SSI in November 2006 as part of a
management buyout and company restructuring.
The acquisition will enable Strateline to vertically integrate its operations by bringing
SSI’s fiber regeneration capabilities in-house, and expand its sustainable product offerings beyond
nonwovens.
“The transaction provides considerable synergies for booth Strateline and SSI, and the board
felt all parties would benefit from the immediate combination but also from the future prospects,”
said Lee Hansen, a partner with Meriturn and chairman of SSI. “As such, we structured the
transaction so the parties could take part in the combined upside.”
Strateline is purchasing SSI’s assets and assuming unsecured liabilities. Under the terms of
the closing, SSI’s secured lender, Tulsa, Okla.-based Arvest Bank, will be repaid. Equity holders
will receive sale proceeds as well as future royalties.
March 11, 2008
