American Nitrile Secures $105 Million Strategic Partnership with Orion Infrastructure Capital

U.S. Nitrile Glove Manufacturer Developing Advanced Facility to Onshore PPE Production

COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--American Nitrile, LLC (“American Nitrile” or “the Company”), a disposable glove manufacturer, announced a strategic partnership with Orion Infrastructure Capital (“Orion” or “OIC”) to complete development of its manufacturing facility in Grove City, OH. Under the arrangement, OIC will provide $105 million to support the completion of twelve production lines with an aggregate capacity of 3.6 billion nitrile gloves per year.

Used throughout the healthcare, food and industrial sectors, nitrile gloves are widely preferred for their superior chemical, tear, and puncture resistance to other single-use rubber gloves; and in the U.S. medical industry, nitrile gloves have replaced latex as the primary material due to ongoing concerns over latex allergies. Today over 95% of global nitrile glove production takes place in Malaysia, China, Indonesia, and Thailand, primarily because of low cost (and often forced) labor. However, in recent months, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol has issued several Withhold Release Orders against major Malaysian glove manufacturers, prohibiting them from importing product into the U.S., following evidence of forced labor. Commercial and government customers are also increasingly focused on reshoring domestic PPE supply chains following major disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in unprecedented demand for U.S.-based supply.

American Nitrile’s production facility will leverage best-in-class manufacturing processes and automation to reduce the impact of higher labor costs and displace volume sourced from Asia, while creating hundreds of new jobs for workers in Ohio. The facility includes a state-of-the-art water treatment and reclamation system that recycles 50% of the wastewater generated by the manufacturing process. This, coupled with the elimination of emissions from transpacific shipping, results in a substantially reduced carbon footprint for nitrile gloves manufactured by American Nitrile when compared to their Asian competitors.

“We believe that American manufacturing deserves a comeback,” said Jacob Block, founder, and CEO of American Nitrile. “Orion’s investment is a nod of confidence in the long-term viability and growth of our business that will allow us to manufacture an increasingly in-demand product here in America's heartland – and we’re going to be able to do it sustainably and competitively.”

“We are excited to partner with American Nitrile, a pioneer in onshoring US nitrile glove manufacturing. This facility will establish a stable supply of competitively priced, domestically produced PPE that employs the most efficient manufacturing processes available.” said Ethan Shoemaker, Investment Partner and Head of Infra Credit at OIC. “This partnership supports Orion’s goal to champion sustainable infrastructure through strategic investment partnerships. On behalf of the team, I would like to thank American Nitrile for choosing to partner with OIC.”

ERG Securities LLC served as financial advisor to the Company. Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP acted as legal advisor to American Nitrile and Latham & Watkins LLP acted as legal advisor to OIC.

About American Nitrile

American Nitrile is a Columbus, Ohio based privately held company focused on manufacturing medical and non-medical latex-free gloves for healthcare, government, and industrial use. The company will manufacture approximately 3.6 billion nitrile gloves per year when fully operational. For more information, visit www.AmericanNitrile.com.

About OIC

With $2.8 billion in assets under management, OIC invests in North America and select international markets. OIC’s unique partnership approach – for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs – cultivates creative credit, equity, and growth capital solutions to help middle market businesses scale and deploy sustainable infrastructure. OIC’s target investment sectors include energy efficiency, digital infrastructure, social infrastructure, sustainable power generation, renewable fuels, waste & recycling, water, transportation, and agriculture. OIC (formerly known as Orion Energy Partners) was founded in 2015 by a team of energy and sustainability veterans, successful infrastructure investors, and former asset owners and industry operators. Across OIC’s platform is a team of 35 professionals based in New York, and Houston. For more information, please visit www.OIC.com.