Van Ness Feldman congratulates its client, The Gores Group, on the occasion of The Gores Group’s purchase and reactivation of a shuttered specialty cellulose fiber mill in Cosmopolis, Washington being named 2011 Deal of the Year by M&A Advisor in the $50 million-$100 million category.

In June 2010, The Gores Group hired Van Ness Feldman to provide due diligence and transaction advice on its proposed acquisition of a shuttered Weyerhaeuser specialty cellulose fiber mill in Cosmopolis. This area of Washington State had been hit particularly hard with the closure of several mills and the downturn in the timber industry. The restoration and restarting of the mill was a major development statewide, attracting the attention and support of Washington Governor Christine Gregoire.

The transaction closed successfully in September 2010 and the mill became operational again in May 2011, operating under the name Cosmo Specialty Fibers, Inc. (CSF), an affiliate of The Gores Group. CSF has retained a number of former Weyerhaeuser Cosmopolis mill staff in consulting roles for key areas, including: Mill Environmental, Machine Room, Piping, Purchasing, Instrumentation, Pulping Group and Power and Recovery.

Seattle office Member Marlys Palumbo led the Van Ness Feldman team that included Seattle Associate Athena Kennedy and Chris Zentz in representing The Gores Group. In addition to conducting due diligence, the firm managed complex real estate issues and assisted with state and federal regulatory issues (issues on which the firm continues to assist the reopened mill).

The Gores Group has produced a short video about the project.  The video may be viewed at:  http://www.gores.com/cosmo.html.