RFE Investment Partners Fund IX Completes Third Platform Investment, Veransa Group, A New Organic Recycling Company

Veransa acquires and vertically integrates the largest waste collection center in Florida with the state’s largest manufacturer of organic compost

NEW CANAAN, Conn. and SEFFNER, Fla., July 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Veransa Group, Inc., a newly formed company that specializes in transforming urban wood and yard waste into valuable organic commodities on an industrial-scale, has acquired Consolidated Resource Recovery, Inc. (CRR) and Florida Organic Solutions, Inc. (FOS).

Veransa operates in the Tampa Bay region of Florida. CRR is the largest and oldest yard waste collection and recycling network in Florida. FOS is a leading Florida-based organic compost manufacturer.

The acquisition of both CRR and FOS creates a leading, vertically integrated, green-waste compost manufacturer in Florida. Veransa vertically integrates green waste collection centers with organic commodities manufacturing facilities to achieve highest-value use, waste-to-organic organic commodities, production. Veransa aggregates green waste and transforms it, using electrically powered processing equipment, into useful products on an industrial scale, including soil-regenerating, OMRI Listed®, organic compost, and blended soils that are free of biosolids or manure. It also processes wood waste into the feedstock for decorative mulch and renewable energy.

“CRR is the most successful and respected green waste collections and processing company in Florida, and FOS is one of the most trusted organic compost manufacturers,” said Marc Owensby, CEO of Veransa Group Inc. “We are thrilled to have them as part of our group.”

“By combining FOS with CRR we will be able to unlock value and generate efficiencies that will transform the urban wood and yard waste industry in Florida,” added Executive Chairman Roger Johansson.

"CRR looks forward to being a meaningful driver of growth as part of the Veransa group,” said CRR president Douglas Halward, who will remain president of CRR and become a shareholder and Board Member of the Veransa Group.

Veransa will continue to expand its vertical integration strategy with the development and acquisition of additional collection centers and compost manufacturing facilities throughout Florida. Veransa Group is an Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) portfolio company of RFE Investment Partners – a Connecticut-based private equity firm.

“We are thrilled to partner with the Veransa team on this exciting venture that is a perfect match with RFE’s investment strategy,” said Michael Rubel, Managing Director at RFE.

Middlemarch Partners served as the investment banking advisor for Veransa Group, Inc.

About Veransa:
Veransa specializes in transforming urban wood and yard waste into valuable organic commodities on an industrial scale. Veransa vertically integrates green waste collection centers with organic commodities manufacturing facilities to achieve highest-value use, waste-to-organic commodities, production. The company aggregates green waste and transforms it, using electrically powered processing equipment, into useful products on an industrial scale, including soil-regenerating, OMRI Listed®, organic compost and blended soils, that are free of biosolids or manure. It also processes wood waste into the feedstock for mulch and renewable energy. Veransa is an Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) portfolio company of RFE Investment Partners and is based in the Tampa Bay region of Florida.

About RFE:
RFE Investment Partners is a private equity firm focused on making control investments in established small market companies located in the United States. RFE is a long-standing New Canaan, Connecticut-based firm founded in 1980 with over 40 years of experience investing in the lower middle market. RFE’s investment strategy is to transform its portfolio companies from the lower end of the market to fully professionalized and market leading middle market companies. RFE is currently investing out of Fund IX. For more information, visit www.rfeip.com.

About Middlemarch Partners:
Middlemarch Partners is a merchant bank that works with companies looking for well-structured and thoughtful solutions to their capital raising, M&A, and strategic partnering needs. Middlemarch is particularly active within the specialty finance, payments, electronic capital markets, financial technology, and business services sectors where companies require sophisticated equity and debt solutions.

Media Contacts:
John Mooney, 908-720-6057, john@overthemoonpr.com (for RFE Investment Partners)
Roxane Teymourtash, 240-413-3949, Roxane.teymourtash@veransa.com (for Veransa)