Partee Flooring Mill LLP's oak flooring mill in Magnolia, Ark., will be purchased by Anthony Timberlands Inc. (ATI) (Bearden, Ark.) for an undisclosed price on or around Oct. 1.
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Partee Flooring Mill LLP's oak flooring mill in Magnolia, Ark., will be purchased by Anthony Timberlands Inc. (ATI) (Bearden, Ark.) for an undisclosed price on or around Oct. 1.
Partee has been producing wood flooring since 1948; ATI says it will form a new company called Anthony Oak Flooring Inc., which will be owned by a "group of principals and key employees of ATI," and current Partee employees will be given an opportunity to continue at the new company.
ATI is the 49th largest private company in Arkansas with 2012 revenues of $162.5, according to Arkansas Business. The company operates three lumber mills and operates other independent companies under the ATI umbrella, among them Anthony Wood Treating Inc. in Hope, Ark.; Anthony Hardwood Composites in Sheridan, Ark.; and Anthony-Higgs Lumber Company in Gurdon, Ark.
"The sharp reduction in nationwide oak flooring capacity, coupled with the opportunity presented by availability of the Partee mill, made timing of the purchase ideal. Partee has been a customer of our nearby hardwood sawmill in Beirne. Diversifying into a downstream, value-added operation so close to our core businesses was a good fit," said ATI President Steven M. Anthony.
ATI anticipates a "near-seamless" transition. "While it has been many years since we have operated a hardwood flooring mill, our nearby hardwood sawmill in Beirne, along with numerous other area hardwood producers, provide a ready source of raw material. The Partee plant site is modern and very well maintained," Anthony stated in a release. The company last milled wood flooring in the 1960s.
John E. Anthony, chairman of the ATI board of directors, will be president of the new company, and Michael McQueen, vice president of hardwood operations at ATI, will be vice president and general manager of the new wood flooring company.