Compass Minerals Announces Acquisition of Outstanding 55% Interest in Fortress North America
09 Maio 2023 - 5:31PM
Business Wire
Transaction Builds Upon Prior Minority
Ownership Stake and Advances Strategy to Accelerate Growth by
Expanding into Adjacent Markets
Compass Minerals (NYSE: CMP), a leading global provider of
essential minerals, today announced that it has acquired the
outstanding 55% interest in Fortress North America (Fortress), a
next-generation fire retardant company, bringing the company’s
ownership stake to 100%. Building upon a previous 45% minority
ownership stake that Compass Minerals has held in Fortress since
January 2022, the transaction provides Compass Minerals full
ownership of all Fortress assets, contracts and intellectual
property.
“The value creation possible through the full integration of
Fortress’ patented portfolio of next-gen fire retardant
formulations with our extensive logistics and production
capabilities made this acquisition a priority for our company,”
said Kevin S. Crutchfield, president and CEO. “With the recent
milestones attained by Fortress, our confidence in its earnings
potential is bolstered as we gain a share of the next-gen fire
retardant market, a counter-seasonal opportunity and sizeable
addressable market that is now open to us. We are pleased to
welcome the Fortress team into the Compass Minerals family.”
The leadership team at Fortress, including CEO Robert Burnham,
will continue to lead and develop the business.
Founded in 2016, Fortress is a developer of proprietary
formulations of magnesium chloride-based aerial and ground fire
retardants proven to be more effective and safer on the environment
than traditional fire retardants on the market. Magnesium chloride
is already an existing product stream out of Compass Minerals’
Ogden, Utah, solar evaporation facility.
In December 2022, Fortress became the first new company in over
two decades to have long-term aerial fire retardants added to the
U.S. Forest Service’s (USFS) Qualified Product List (QPL).
Fortress’ FR-100 Powder and FR-200 Liquid Concentrate products met
and exceeded the USFS’ rigorous testing criteria in such categories
as environmental effects and toxicity to aquatic and mammalian
species, corrosion on a variety of aircraft metals, burn
retardation efficacy and other qualifiers (e.g., long-term
storability, acceptable viscosity and pumpability) and finally the
completion of a live wildfire operational field evaluation. In May
of 2023, Fortress entered into a contract with the USFS whereby
Fortress will provide up to five mobile-deployed fire retardant air
tanker bases, utilizing Fortress’ newly designed, state-of-the-art
mixing units. These units are expected to be deployed to air bases
where Fortress will supply product and attendant services for the
2023 fire season. Under the framework used by U.S. government
agencies, including the USFS, to boost competition in critical
sectors, a substantial portion of Fortress’ activity will be
contracted by the USFS in fiscal 2023 specifically to enable and
encourage Fortress to build additional scale. Fortress expects to
continue to leverage Compass Minerals’ infrastructure, logistics,
distribution network and operating expertise in an effort to
further increase its market growth and competitiveness in 2024 and
beyond.
Burnham commented, “Being fully integrated with Compass Minerals
will represent a quantum leap forward for Fortress and empower us
to scale up and compete in what has been a one-sided market.
Achieving the recent milestone of becoming the first new company in
more than two decades to have our aerial fire retardants fully
approved on the Qualified Product List, followed by securing a
binding supply agreement with the USFS, represents the culmination
of a multi-year effort and shared vision between the Fortress and
Compass Minerals teams. Now, with a robust portfolio of
next-generation formulations in the pipeline and buttressed by the
infrastructure available to us as part of Compass Minerals, we are
shifting our focus to the rapid acceleration of our supply chain,
logistics and manufacturing capabilities. The combination of
Fortress and Compass Minerals is the next natural step toward our
joint mission to establish Fortress as the market leader in
next-gen fire retardants.”
Additional information regarding the transaction can be found on
the investor relations section of the Compass Minerals website at
compassminerals.com.
About Compass Minerals
Compass Minerals (NYSE: CMP) is a leading global provider of
essential minerals focused on safely delivering where and when it
matters to help solve nature’s challenges for customers and
communities. The company’s salt products help keep roadways safe
during winter weather and are used in numerous other consumer,
industrial, chemical and agricultural applications. Its plant
nutrition products help improve the quality and yield of crops,
while supporting sustainable agriculture. Additionally, the company
is pursuing development of a sustainable lithium brine resource to
support the North American battery market and is owner of Fortress
North America, a next-generation fire retardant company. Compass
Minerals operates 12 production and packaging facilities with
nearly 2,000 employees throughout the U.S., Canada and the U.K.
Visit compassminerals.com for more information about the company
and its products.
About Fortress North America
With corporate locations in California and Montana, Fortress,
founded in 2016, is a new and innovative fire-retardant company
that has designed and developed the Fortress family of chemically
advanced next-generation long-term fire retardants, engineered for
environmental safety and superior efficacy. Visit fortressfrs.com
more information about the company and its products.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements may generally be identified by the use
of words such as “may”, “will”, “anticipate”, “expect”, “intend”,
“seek”, “estimate”, “would”, “should”, “plan”, “potential”,
“future”, “target”, “project” or variations of these words or other
similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or
trends or that are not statements of historical matters, although
not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words.
Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation,
statements about Compass Minerals’ or Fortress’ future performance
or financial condition, the transaction, the sellers or their
respective affiliates and the anticipated potential benefits of the
transaction. These statements are based on Compass Minerals’
current expectations, estimates and projections and involve risks
and uncertainties that could cause Compass Minerals’ or Fortress’
actual results to differ materially. The differences could be
caused by a number of factors including those factors identified in
the “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of
Financial Condition and Results of Operations” sections of the
company’s Annual and Quarterly Reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q,
including any amendments, as well as the company’s other SEC
filings. Opinions expressed are current opinions as of the date
hereof. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such
forward-looking statements and should rely on their own assessment
of an investment. The company undertakes no obligation to update
any forward-looking statements made in this press release to
reflect future events or developments, except as required by
law.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230509005988/en/
Investor Contact Brent Collins Vice President, Investor
Relations +1.913.344.9111 InvestorRelations@compassminerals.com
Media Contact Rick Axthelm Chief Public Affairs and
Sustainability Officer +1.913.344.9198
MediaRelations@compassminerals.com
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