PLM buying ANPC Inc.

Professional Lake Management, a Michigan-based firm utilized by the Lake Gaston Weed Control Council to treat some areas of the lake for hydrilla, has announced plans to purchase Aquatic Nuisance Plant Control Inc. on Tuesday.

Chris Cheek, president of Professional Lake Management (PLM), and Richard Hinterman, president of Aquatic Nuisance Plant Control (ANPC), said the two companies had been working on the sale for several months. The deal will close Sept. 30.

Hinterman, whose ANPC had been handling weed control on the lake for the weed control council for years, lost the contract to PLM two years ago, a move that ultimately led to Tuesday’s announcement.

“We have continued doing private treatments,” he said. “But it just wasn’t profitable.”

PLM, for their part, does some private work, but the bulk of its efforts on the lake have come from its contract with the Weed Control Council. The purchase of ANPC offers a significant chance to expand its presence in the private contracting weed treatment on Lake Gaston.

“We’ve had the majority of (private) work on the lake because we’ve been here 13 years,” Hinterman said.

“This is a good opportunity for us,” Cheek said. “We’ve been here for two years, and we really want to establish our business and grow. We expect to continue offering the same quality of service Richard has been offering.”

Cheek said letters would be going out to ANPC customers soon explaining the change. He also said information will be posted on the firm’s Website, and PLM officials will be making site visits to talk with ANPC customers whose accounts they are taking over.

He said the weed control council had already been notified.

Both men described the sale as a business move among friends.

“We’ve known Chris and his company for a lot of years,” Hinterman said. “We’ve had other buyers try to purchase the company, but we’ve embraced PMI because we believe they will do the best job for our customers.”

Another business relationship between the two firms also played into the sale, he said. Hinterman is also the owner of Signet Enterprises, a company that specializes in the aquatic market, including the chemicals applied to the lake to kill hydrilla and other noxious weeds. He said over the past several years he’s been gradually selling off his weed treatment companies to focus on Signet, another factor that Cheek said favored Tuesday’s announced sale. Signet will continue to supply the chemicals PML uses in its lake applications.

Once the sale is complete, Cheek said PLM’s office will move from its Littleton location to the ANPC facility on North Carolina Route 903 just outside of Littleton. 

Both men declined to disclose the purchase price.