LEWISTON — Elmet Technologies Inc. has new owners in a Maine investment firm, seven members of its management team and the Maine Technology Institute.
The new company, Elmet Technologies LLC, announced the deal Tuesday.
Peter Anania, head of the Windham firm Anania & Associates Investments Company and the new majority shareholder, said he felt very good about its future.
“They have a good niche in the marketplace and worldwide partners; we really liked that,” he said. “The company has the largest back-order it’s ever had right now.”
Elmet, once owned by light bulb giant Philips Lighting Co., has been operating in Lewiston since 1929. Today it works with molybdenum and tungsten for the lighting, semiconductor, medical and energy industries.
It has operations in Georgia, Washington state and China. Lewiston is the corporate headquarters.
Elmet had laid off 33 hourly and salaried workers last week amid rumors of a sale. It had been owned by Liberty Lane Partners, a New Hampshire investment firm. That company said in a statement Tuesday that the sudden bankruptcy of Elmet’s largest customer last October had hurt the company and had it looking for more capital or a new buyer to keep the business open.
The new deal was finalized Friday.
Anania, former chairman of the Maine Heritage Policy Center, said his firm and seven members of Elmet’s management team invested in the new company.
He said the Maine Technology Institute also invested $1 million toward future research and development and became a 10-percent equity owner.
The Finance Authority of Maine provided financing.
The new Elmet has just under 200 employees. Anania said five to 10 jobs would be added in the near future as the company brings back some work that had been done off-site, and he hoped to see more growth eventually.
Anania & Associates owns six other niche manufacturing companies, five of them in Maine, including Lighthouse Imaging LLC, which makes optics for the medical industry, and mWAVE Industries LLC, which makes antennas.
“We don’t flip companies,” Anania said. “We love to help the company grow and build value and add Maine jobs.”
In a news release, CEO Andy Nichols called the new ownership “an awesome group of seasoned, forward-thinking business leaders from Maine.”
“We have strong commitment to and from our highly experienced and knowledgeable workforce,” he said. “We are laser-focused partnering with our global customers to enhance our leadership position in the market.”
kskelton@sunjournal.com
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