November 15, 2021 | Press Release
ROCKLIN, CA.—Fortress North America, a producer of innovative long-term fire-retardants (LTR), recently announced a $45 million equity investment from Compass Minerals, a leading global provider of essential minerals. The investment will position Compass Minerals’ minority equity stake ownership in Fortress at approximately 45%.
“Annual fire-retardant use is growing, and now more than ever there is a demand for eco-sensitive and effective fire retardants,” said Fortress CEO Robert Burnham. “This alliance with Compass Minerals will allow us to ramp up production and scale even more quickly to meet that demand."
Compass Minerals is the primary supplier of key ingredients in Fortress’s LTR products, which are derived from the company’s solar evaporation site on the Great Salt Lake in Utah. This newfound partnership solidifies that supply chain and allows Fortress to expand its production capabilities.
“Since we began working closely with the entrepreneurial Fortress team approximately 18 months ago, we have been excited about the growth potential of their innovative products in what has historically been a stagnant and sole-sourced market,” said Kevin S. Crutchfield, Compass Minerals president and CEO. “We believe our support, both financially and operationally, will help accelerate that growth potential, and we anticipate Fortress’ high demand season will help to counter-balance the seasonality of our core deicing salt business.”
Fortress’s line of environmentally safe, long-term fire retardants are derived from magnesium-chloride technology. Magnesium chloride offers a cleaner, safer, and more effective alternative to the ammonium phosphate chemicals that have been the industry standard for the last six decades. As the global market for fire retardants continues to grow, this transaction between Fortress and Compass Minerals is another step toward scaling production of Fortress LTR’s to meet increasing demand.
As of October 5th, Fortress has three products on the Forest Service's Qualified Products List (QPL): FR-600 ground applied long-term retardant (fully qualified), and FR-200 and FR-100, which are both aerial long-term retardants (conditionally qualified).
About Fortress
With corporate locations in California and Montana, Fortress, founded in 2016, is a new and innovative fire-retardant company that has designed and developed the Fortress family of chemically advanced “next generation” long-term fire retardants, engineered for environmental safety and superior efficacy.
More info: www.FORTRESSFRS.com
Media contact: media@fortressfrs.com
About Compass Minerals
Compass Minerals (NYSE: CMP) is a leading global provider of essential minerals focused on safely delivering where and when it matters to help solve nature’s challenges for customers and communities. Its salt products help keep roadways safe during winter weather and are used in numerous other consumer, industrial and agricultural applications. And its plant nutrition business manufactures products that improve the quality and yield of crops, while supporting sustainable agriculture. Additionally, its specialty chemical business serves the water treatment industry and other industrial processes. The company operates 15 production and packaging facilities with more than 2,000 employees throughout the U.S., Canada, Brazil and the U.K.
Visit compassminerals.com for more information about the company and its products.
Fortress is dedicated to developing and producing an eco-sensitive, sustainable, and more efficacious fire-retardant alternative to combat wildfires in California, the United States, and around the world.
All retardant depicted in aerial drop images is Fortress FRS fire retardant.
