Last year, a management team in North Texas bought the company they’d spent years building.
In May 2026, that deal earned recognition at one of the region’s most competitive M&A award programs — and CJ Group was proud to be part of it.
The Deal
In July 2025, Schirm USA’s senior leadership completed a $60 million management buyout of the company from AECI Limited, its South African parent. CEO Chad Kern, CFO Cody Helm, and COO Rebecca Rodgers acquired the business through Liberation Chem-Toll, LLC — a Texas entity they formed specifically for the acquisition.
Founded in 1976, Schirm USA is a leading contract formulation and packaging company, serving agricultural, industrial, and specialty chemical markets from facilities in North Texas and Southern Illinois. AECI’s decision to divest was part of a broader portfolio shift to reduce debt and refocus on core mining and chemical operations. Selling to the existing management team preserved continuity for the workforce and kept a critical piece of U.S. agricultural supply chain infrastructure in American hands — and under Texas ownership.
TRANSACTION VALUE
$60 million
ACQUIRER ENTITY
Liberation Chem-Toll, LLC
SELLER
AECI Limited (South Africa)
CLOSED
July 2025
Why it Won
The D CEO and ACG M&A Awards recognized the transaction in the $50M–$250M category — one of seven nominees in that group. The award cited three things: the structure of the management buyout itself, the cooperative financing package that made it possible, and the outcome of keeping manufacturing resources supporting U.S. agriculture in Texas.
None of those three things was simple. A bootstrap management buyout without private equity backing requires financing built from the ground up. Getting the USDA and Comerica Bank aligned on a cooperative structure — two institutions with different mandates and different approval processes — took the kind of patient, relationship-driven work that defines how CJ operates. Gary Jackson, Mikayla Markland, and Hector Gutierrez served as due diligence and transaction advisors throughout, keeping the numbers clean, the structure sound, and the deal moving.
Chad, Cody, and Rebecca had built this business. The financing structure had to reflect that—and withstand scrutiny from two major lending institutions simultaneously.
What it Means to CJ
CJ has been working alongside North Texas businesses for more than 40 years. That history matters in a deal like this because the relationships and institutional knowledge that come with it are exactly what a transaction this complex requires.
There’s also something in this deal that goes beyond the advisory work. When a management team that’s run an operation for years gets the chance to own it — and when that outcome keeps jobs, facilities, and manufacturing capability rooted in Texas — that’s a result worth celebrating. We’re proud of the team at Liberation Chem-Toll and grateful to have been trusted to help get it done.
Get in Touch
Working through a transaction or thinking about what one might look like for your business? Happy to have a conversation about where things stand.
