Gorham Paper and Tissue Positioned as Success Story on CBS Evening News

The migration of Gorham Paper and Tissue from a shuttered paper mill to a viable tissue, towel and specialty paper operation with over 200 employees and demonstrated sales growth was featured on the CBS Nightly News (April 26, 2013). The segment highlighted a 23% increase in year-over-year sales volume for Gorham due to an enhanced energy platform, newly installed state-of-the-art tissue machine and sharpened focus on delivering highly engineered products for demanding niche applications.

“We epitomize a good news story. With the support of Patriarch Partners and the hard work of our employees, we are transforming our business day-by-day. Gorham started operating in 1852 and has progressively built a legacy of expertise in producing challenging technical papers. Until recently that unique capability was overshadowed by an uncompetitive cost structure,” said Dick Arnold, President and CEO. “By optimizing our energy platform and anchoring our business to the stability and growth of the towel and tissue markets, we can focus on capturing market share in the specialty papers market.”

In the specialty arena, Gorham manufactures a tremendous range of papers that includes bags, pouches, wraps and liners for food packaging, substrates engineered with application-specific technical properties such as flame retardance, absorbency or light fastness and versatile high-yield converting grades.

Brian McAlary, Vice President of Sales and Marketing added, “Maintaining a strong tissue and towel business is the backbone of our strategic plan with our specialty paper business serving as a key contributor to our success. We are poised for growth with some of the most flexible equipment in the industry, our extensive experience in barrier coating technology and a business model built around customization. The market is telling us we have targeted the right micro-segments with a solid service and product platform. Given the changing market dynamics, it should be a great year for Gorham.”

Patriarch Partners purchased Gorham in May of 2011 looking for vertical integration with another forest products portfolio company, Old Town Fuel and Fiber. The two operations deliver synergy as Old Town manufactures the primary raw material (pulp) required to make paper and represents a secure source of supply for Gorham.

A link to the CBS Evening News segment is available on the Gorham website.

About Gorham Paper and Tissue:

Gorham targets niche technical markets with a broad portfolio of custom-engineered Specialty Packaging, Converting, Engineered and Printing Papers in addition to Tissue and Towel. Using scale and leanness as an advantage, the company challenges industry convention with its manufacturing flexibility, product development lead times and go-to-market strategy.

In May 2011, the Gorham facility was acquired with support from investment funds managed by Patriarch Partners, LLC (Patriarch). Patriarch is a private equity firm and holding company managing 75 companies across 14 industry sectors with revenues in excess of $8 billion.

Founded by Lynn Tilton in 2000, Patriarch focuses on the acquisition and invigoration of undervalued iconic American brands where time, capital and sound strategy can rescue a business and restore its value, creating and preserving jobs in America. Under Ms. Tilton's leadership, Patriarch has become the largest woman-owned business in America with companies in its platform providing employment to more than 120,000 persons.