Company News
June 9, 2025
Gougeon Brothers Acquired as Platform
Iron Path Capital Announces Partnership with Gougeon Brothers, Inc. as First Investment in Advanced Materials Platform
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Private equity firm to continue building the legacy of family-owned premier epoxy resin formulator and manufacturer
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Iron Path Capital, a private equity firm focused on healthcare and specialty industrials, today announced a growth partnership with Gougeon Brothers, Inc., a leading epoxy manufacturer in the composites and marine end markets.
“Gougeon has a long and storied history as a pioneer and innovator in advanced composite epoxy resin systems for both repair and use in original equipment composite parts manufacturing.”Share
“We are delighted to partner with the Gougeon management team to develop and grow their market-leading WEST SYSTEM®, PRO-SET®, and Entropy Resins® epoxy resin systems for making and repairing composite structures,” said Ted Clark, Partner at Iron Path Capital. “Gougeon has a long and storied history as a pioneer and innovator in advanced composite epoxy resin systems for both repair and use in original equipment composite parts manufacturing. We will continue to build the business through organic and inorganic opportunities in the fast-growing composite materials market.”
Family-owned since 1969, Gougeon formulates and manufactures epoxy systems for various applications in the marine, recreational, automotive, aerospace, and industrial composites markets. Gougeon is committed to customer service and technical support in ensuring customers’ effective use of its products in repair and original equipment composite structures. Its in-house chemists develop tailored solutions for each application, ensuring quality and performance through their superior strength and excellent handling characteristics.
The Company’s history is rooted in boat building with the Gougeon brothers pioneering the use of epoxy resin systems in boat construction. In addition to formulating and manufacturing their products, Gougeon is a long-time thought leader in the space and is known for its instructional magazine and online forum (Epoxyworks®), book (The Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction), and seminars and training sessions including the popular “Glue U” seminar for boat repair.
“The Gougeon Family and the employees of Gougeon Brothers Inc. are thrilled to partner with the team at Iron Path Capital,” said Gougeon CEO Alan Gurski*. “We chose Iron Path as they share our entrepreneurial spirit, and our commitment to each other, our community, our customers, and to manufacturing the finest products for our markets. We look forward to being a part of the next evolution of GBI.”
Ted Clark will serve as Executive Chairman of Gougeon as part of the new advanced materials platform. Clark is an experienced operator in formulated coatings, adhesives and sealants as well as in composites. He previously led Royal Adhesives & Sealants as President and CEO from 2003-2017, which was acquired by H.B. Fuller. Post-acquisition, Clark served as Senior Vice President, Royal Adhesives, then as Executive Vice President and COO of H.B. Fuller before joining Iron Path Capital as a Partner in 2022. Earlier in his career, Mr. Clark also served as President and CEO of PRC-DeSoto International, a producer of coatings and sealants for aircraft.
This marks the fifth platform in Iron Path’s main strategy. Deriving from the Italian term “via ferrata,” a fortified route along a challenging Alps climb, Iron Path provides a differentiated private equity experience for founders and management teams, focusing on what drives the greatest impact while building on the company’s culture and values to scale swiftly and deliberately, one secure step at a time. From day one, Iron Path Capital works hand-in-hand with management teams to add value through its unique blend of Wall Street capability and Main Street authenticity.
Learn more at Gougeon Brothers, Inc. and Iron Path Capital.
About Gougeon Holding Company
Founded in 1969, Gougeon is a leading formulator, manufacturer and marketer of high-quality two-part epoxy systems and ancillary products. The Company’s products include a wide range of epoxy resins, hardeners, fillers, and supplies for the composites, marine, automotive, aerospace, sporting goods, arts and crafts, and other end markets around the world. The Company manufactures WEST SYSTEM® Epoxy, PRO-SET® Epoxy, and Entropy Resins®, distributes PRO-VAC Vacuum Bag Consumables and publishes Epoxyworks® magazine. Gougeon is ISO 9001:2015 registered with primary operations in Bay City, MI. Learn more at Gougeon.com
About Iron Path Capital
Iron Path Capital is an operationally focused private equity firm making lower-middle-market investments across the healthcare and specialty industrial sectors. With offices in Nashville, TN and Charlottesville, VA, Iron Path Capital supports its partners with capital, operating expertise, business development, and industry relationships to achieve significant scale. Iron Path Capital focuses on growing companies with stable cash flows, superior management teams, defensible, scalable business models and multiple vectors for growth, both organic and through consolidation. Learn more at ironpathcapital.com
*Mr. Gurski is not a current client of Iron Path Capital, L.P., or an investor in any of its funds and was not provided with compensation for this statement. We are not aware of any material conflicts of interest with him providing this statement resulting from his and Iron Path’s relationship.
June 4, 2025
Aditya Birla Acquisition
Cargill
MILWAUKEE (June 4, 2025) Aditya Birla Group, a leading Indian multinational, has agreed to purchase Cargill’s Dalton, Georgia-based specialty chemicals business. Aditya Birla Group intends to expand the Dalton, Georgia facility’s capacity over the next two years, and will continue to manufacture the business’ current output of formulated resins, curing agents, reactive diluents and polyaspartic resins.
Grace Matthews, Inc. advised Cargill on this transaction.
ABOUT CARGILL, INC.
Cargill is committed to providing food, ingredients, agricultural solutions, and industrial products to nourish the world in a safe, responsible, and sustainable way. Sitting at the heart of the supply chain, we partner with farmers and customers to source, make and deliver products that are vital for living.
Our approximately 160,000 employees innovate with purpose, providing customers with life’s essentials so businesses can grow, communities prosper, and consumers live well. With 160 years of experience as a family company, we look ahead while remaining true to our values. We put people first. We reach higher. We do the right thing—today and for generations to come. For more information, visit www.cargill.com.
ABOUT ADITYA BIRLA GROUP
The Aditya Birla Group is a US$ 66 billion global conglomerate in the League of the Fortune 500. Anchored by an extraordinary force of over 140,000 employees belonging to 100 nationalities, the Group is built on a strong foundation of stakeholder value creation. With its presence across 6 continents and 36 countries, the Aditya Birla Group holds 130 state-of-the-art manufacturing units globally.
Today, over 50% of Group revenues flow from overseas operations that span 36 countries in North and South America, Africa and Asia. For more information, visit www.adityabirla.com.
ABOUT GRACE MATTHEWS
Grace Matthews, Inc., a Milwaukee-based investment bank, provides merger, acquisition, and corporate finance advisory services to private and public companies across the chemical and material science value chain. Over the past 25 years, Grace Matthews has successfully completed over 150 transactions on behalf of private, middle-market companies, private equity firms, and large multi-national corporations. For more detailed information on Grace Matthews, visit www.gracematthews.com.
June 1, 2025
Mr. Pauley Joins the Hall of Fame
2 manufacturers, a retailer, a supplier tapped for 2025 Hall of Fame
Vicky Jarrett //Managing Editor//May 29, 2025
HIGH POINT — Four influential industry leaders will be inducted into the American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame on Oct. 26 during the fall High Point Market.
Joining the current 139 members of the Hall of Fame are Jeffrey S. Child, president, R.C. Willey Home Furnishings; William A. Hinks, founder and chairman, Furniture Mart USA; Stanley F. Pauley, former CEO and chairman, Carpenter Co.; and Norman Waxman, Norman Waxman Consulting.
“This year’s class of inductees represents the core values of superior accomplishments and enduring excellence by two retailers, a manufacturer and a supplier,” said Satya Tiwari, president of the American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame Foundation board of directors. “Each has impacted the industry with innovation, and each represents high personal character and ethical standards.”
A seven-member selection committee chose this year’s inductees based on their contributions to the growth and development of the home furnishings industry in the U.S.
Jeffrey S. Child has grown the Top 10 retailer fivefold in his 24-year tenure as president of R.C. Willey Home Furnishings, a Berkshire Hathaway company based in Salt Lake City. He began working in the family business when he was 14 waxing the warehouse floors and then working his way up as a sales associate, buyer and merchandise manager where he developed his great love for furnishings. Child is known for sharing strategies for success not just within his company but also with other retailers.
Under Child’s leadership, the retailer has honed a fully integrated supply chain to enhanced its competitive edge. The retailer of furnishings, appliances, electronics and flooring operates 10 stores and three distribution centers in Utah, Nevada, Idaho and California.
William A. Hinks started selling used furniture in 1977, becoming a serial entrepreneur who provides consumers in rural markets with the access to a wide range of brands typically only found in metropolitan stores. The Top 40 Furniture Mart USA operates in six Midwestern states offering furnishings, flooring and design services supported by an in-stock, rapid delivery network.
With a mission to transform “houses into homes, employees into family and customers into friends,” the three-generation family business based in Sioux Falls, S.D., owns most of its 60 storefront and warehouse properties. The Priority Sales program partners with nine Native American Reservations to provide private funding to tribal members, thereby enabling many to buy furniture for the first time.
Stanley F. Pauley became president of Richmond-based Carpenter Co. seven years after E. Rhodes Carpenter was founded in 1950 as a latex foam distributor. Over the next 60-plus years, he built the company into a global vertically integrated manufacturer of polyurethane foams used for upholstery, bedding, carpet cushioning, furniture and fabrication, and other consumer products.
An electrical engineer by education, Pauley had an unwavering commitment to continuous improvement and creating innovative foam solutions for Carpenter’s customers. He was known for his attention to every detail of the business, always doing things the right way and keeping an eye on reducing waste, promoting sustainability and practicing circularity. The company employs some 7,000 people at its more than 70 production facilities located around the world.
Norman Waxman has been an advisor and mentor to dozens of manufacturers and retailers. His career began in upholstery sales, expanding into executive management positions for Schnadig Corp., Rowe Furniture Corp., Quaker Fabrics and Corson Furniture Inds.
Waxman was an early adopter of merchandising the whole room through correlated groups and developing brands by expanding market share through the export business and engaging with retail customers as partners. He is known for growing talent through executive development based on a foundation of trust as the right way to conduct business, and he is a socially responsible leader and philanthropist.
May 28, 2025
Huntsman to Close European Maleic Plant
Huntsman Completes European Maleic Anhydride Strategic Review
May 28, 2025 5:00am EDT
THE WOODLANDS, Texas, May 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Huntsman Corporation (NYSE: HUN) announced today that it has completed the strategic review of its European Maleic Anhydride business. As a result of this review, the Company will close its Maleic Anhydride facility located in Moers, Germany. The closure of the operations at Moers is expected to be complete by the end of the current quarter. In 2024, the European Maleic Anhydride business generated an adjusted EBITDA loss of approximately $10 million. Going forward, the Company intends to serve customers in the European region from its North American facilities located in Pensacola, Florida and Geismar, Louisiana. As a result of the closure of the Moers, Germany facility, Huntsman expects to incur a one-time non-cash asset impairment charge of approximately $75 million during the second quarter of 2025.
About Huntsman:
Huntsman Corporation is a publicly traded global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated and specialty chemicals with 2024 revenues of approximately $6 billion. Our chemical products number in the thousands and are sold worldwide to manufacturers serving a broad and diverse range of consumer and industrial end markets. We operate more than 60 manufacturing, R&D and operations facilities in approximately 25 countries and employ approximately 6,300 associates within our continuing operations. For more information about Huntsman, please visit the company’s website at www.huntsman.com.
May 27, 2025
Stepan Announces Price Hike on Polyester Polyols
Stepan Company Announces Polyol Price Increase for North America effective July 1, 2025
Northfield, IL, May 23, 2025 – Effective July 1, 2025, or as contracts allow, Stepan will increase the price for STEPANPOL® and TERATE® Rigid Polyester Polyols used in the Americas by $0.05 per pound. This increase is necessary due to the continued escalation in raw material costs.
Please contact your Stepan Company sales representative to learn more about the price increase.
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