The Morrell family, owners since 1931 of Downeast Energy, with offices at 18 Spring St. in Brunswick, shown here, announced Monday that they have negotiated a deal to sell the company to NGL Energy Partners of Tulsa, Okla. (Darren Fishell / The Times Record)
Brunswick-based Downeast Energy currently serves more than 50,000 customers in Maine and New Hampshire.
Company president John Peters said Monday that the deal is due to close on May 1, but the sale does not mean a change in the brand.
“The brand stays and the people, the vehicles and the locations stay,” Peters said in a phone interview with The Times Record. “The beauty of this strategically for us and our customers is that NGL has no retail presence in our market and they wanted our brand image and level of service to fit in with their company. As far as customers are concerned, they should see no change.”
According to a press statement, NGL will give cash and partial ownership through common shares to Downeast. The selling price of the business with 14 offices in southern and central Maine was not disclosed.
The company has been owned by the Morrell family since 1931, when Allen Morrell purchased “Brunswick Coal” — founded in 1908 — and renamed the company “Brunswick Coal & Lumber.”
A statement from the Morrell family posted Monday on the company’s Facebook page said the Morrells’ decision to sell the business was made “with mixed emotions.”
Except for 82-year-old Dick Morrell, all other members of the Morrell family will not be directly involved with the business.
“With the exception of members of our family, all employees will be retained,” the Morrells’ statement said. “John Peters our president for many years will remain to lead the troops. You’ll also still be able to find Dick Morrell in the office he has occupied for more than 60 years at 18 Spring St. in Brunswick.”
The Morrell family will remain indirectly involved with the business, according to the statement.
“While the family will no longer be active in day-to-day operations, we will still be involved indirectly in the business and will of course continue to live and participate in the community as we do now.”
In 2010, the Morrells sold the building supply portion of the business, based at 30 Spring St., to Hammond Lumber, stating at the time that they wanted to focus on the energy delivery and service. Since then, the firm opened an office in Bath and undertook other expansion efforts.
Peters said the deal will allow all of the company’s employees to transfer their service time and seniority to NGL.
“I think the (Morrell) family is to be congratulated for finding such a strategic partner so that someone like me can keep my employment and receive credit for my tenure along with comparable benefits. We will just fold in as though our years had been with (NGL),” Peters said.
About the change from a locally owned family business to a national corporation, Peters said, “It’s not a family business, but it will be the next best thing.”
Peters told The Times Record that the deal is also an opportunity for the business to expand in a way that he said would be difficult in Maine alone.
“We’ll be part of a larger organization with better access to fuel and propane supplies than we have currently and a more geographically diverse business model,” Peters said.
As part of the deal, the company will gain access to a fuel terminal on Commercial Street in Portland, which Peters said is currently undergoing renovations.
Peters said that terminal will give the company access to propane delivered by rail. Peters said that, in northern New England, “sourcing is very difficult” for propane, and the sale will give Downeast “almost exclusive access to” the Portland terminal.
In their Facebook statement, the Morrells also praised NGL as the “the right guardian” for Downeast customers and employees.
“We believe we have made a great choice for everyone,” the statement said. “In fact, Mike Krimbill, NGL’s chief executive, is the son of a Maine girl and spent his childhood summers in Maine.”
The move is a part of a larger effort for NGL to acquire energy companies throughout the Northeast. In October 2011, the company purchased Osterman Propane, which serves customers in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Vermont.
dfishell@timesrecord.com
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