Stellus Capital Management announced that its affiliates provided senior debt financing and an equity co-investment in support of The Sterling Group’s (“Sterling”) formation of Compost360, a new platform focused on building a leading processor of organic waste material and producer of high quality, sustainable landscaping products. Sterling is partnering with two industry executives, Steve Carn and Randy Arnold, who will serve as CEO and COO of the Compost360 platform.

The first acquisition by Compost360 is Nature’s Choice, an organic waste recycling company and producer of compost, mulch, and engineered soils based in New Jersey. “Nature's Choice is a leader in the organic recycling and mulch/soil market and serves as an ideal initial partnership for the Compost360 platform,” said Lucas Cutler, Partner of The Sterling Group Foundation Fund, adding, “We appreciate the efficiency and flexibility provided by Stellus throughout the financing process which supports our vision of building a vertically-integrated organics waste recycling and composting platform with national scale.”

“We value our long-standing relationship with Sterling and are excited to support Sterling’s Foundation Fund and the first acquisition for Compost360,” said Gavin Roseman, Managing Director at Stellus, adding, “Sterling’s hands-on approach to operations with support from industry veterans, Steve Carn and Randy Arnold, provides a strong foundation to execute the vision of the Compost360 platform.”