Astara Capital Partners Announces Second Sawmill Acquisition

Astara Capital Partners, an integrated team of investors and operators investing in the middle market, announced on Tuesday (5-17-22) that is has formed Camden Timbers LLC to acquire and restart the assets of Victory Lumber LLC, a Southern Yellow Pine sawmill located in Camden, Arkansas.

The Camden Timber investment is Astara’s second sawmill investment. Previously, Astara’s ACP Lumber Holdings LLC acquired Cross City Lumber LLC in April of 2021.

According to the press release, Astara began working on the opportunity in 2020 after it was contacted about the mill by a group of sawmill executives with whom Michael Ranson, Astara’s Managing Partner, had worked in the past. This team of executives, led by Brett Bray, was responsible for restarting Caddo River Forest Products (“Caddo River”), another mill in Arkansas where Mr. Ranson and Bob McKagen, CEO of ACP Lumber, served as board members.

“The Camden Timbers team has developed a comprehensive plan to invest significant capital in the mill,” said Mr. McKagen, “and ACP Lumber is excited to support the project. Brett and his team’s plan will create a preeminent small-log timbers mill that is highly synergistic to CCL and complements our focus on specialty and dimensional lumber.”