News

08/05/2024

Dickinson Williams advises on the sale of Graf Brothers Flooring, Inc.

Dickinson Williams & Company is pleased to announce that it served as the exclusive financial advisor to Graf Brothers Flooring, Inc. (“Graf” or the “Company”) in its sale to Oak Nation, a subsidiary of Charlois Group.

Founded in 2003 by Dave and Greg Graf and headquartered in South Shore, Kentucky, Graf is the world’s leading producer of quarter-sawn and rift-sawn American oak, specializing in the production of solid and engineered flooring, as well as wine and bourbon barrel staves. The Company has 350 employees and can process more than 42 million board feet of logs annually.

Located near Charlois’ Kelvin Cooperage in Louisville, Kentucky, Graf offers the largest stave mill capacity on a single site in the United States.  With this significant acquisition, the largest in its history, Charlois replicates in the U.S. the vertically integrated model that has made it strong in Europe, where the group is already the largest buyer of oak in France and Romania.

Greg Graf said, “On behalf of Graf Brothers, we would like to extend our gratitude to the Dickinson Williams team for all the hard work and guidance they provided through this journey.”

“We are incredibly happy for Greg, Dave, and the employees.  Charlois is a fantastic partner for the Company, and we look forward to all that they will accomplish together in the flooring and cooperage markets,” said John Dickinson, Managing Director at Dickinson Williams.

Vorys and Johnson Oliver & Howard served as legal counsel to Graf, and Sullivan & Cromwell provided legal counsel to Charlois.

 About Charlois Group:

Charlois’ history dates back to the middle of the 17^th century with the stave maker Jacques Charlois in the Bertranges forest of France.  Headquartered in Murlin, France, Charlois Group is today one of the leading competitors in the wine, whisky, bourbon, and cognac cooperage markets in France and throughout the world.

About Dickinson Williams & Company:

Dickinson Williams & Company is an independent investment banking firm led by industry veterans with over 90 years of combined investment banking, financing, and operating experience.  The firm provides objective, experience-based advisory services to lower middle market companies with enterprise values up to $150 million.  The firm provides sell-side, buy-side, private placement, recapitalization, and strategic advisory services to family and closely held businesses, corporations, and private equity investors, and has a broad cross-section of transaction and industry experience in the industrials, business services, distribution, healthcare, and consumer sectors.

John C. Dickinson
Managing Director
jdickinson@dickinsonwilliams.com
804.588.3412

James A. Gilmore
Managing Director
jgilmore@dickinsonwilliams.com
804.588.3414

Harold J. Williams III
Managing Director
hwilliams@dickinsonwilliams.com
804.588.3413