Bangor, ME -- Prentiss & Carlisle, an 80-year-old forest management firm, announced its acquisition of George Banzhaf & Company (GB&CO), one of the oldest forest resource consulting companies in the United States, on October 4, 2005.

According to Donald P. White, president of Prentiss & Carlisle (P&C), the acquisition adds nearly 300,000 acres of northern Michigan timberland to the 1,090,000 acres in Maine currently managed by P&C. It also adds the GB&CO consulting and appraisal business – and George Banzhaf & Company President Samuel J. Radcliffe – to the P&C team.

“Prentiss & Carlisle is as vertically integrated a company as there is in this business,” said White, “but the capability to provide our clients with certified appraisals was the one piece we were missing. Now it will become a highlight of our service portfolio.

“On the other side, we bring the talents of 60 professional employees, including 15 licensed foresters, to Banzhaf clients. So, we’ve expanded the geographical range and the skill sets of both companies.”

According to Radcliffe, the acquisition affirms a strong belief held by both George Banzhaf and his son Bill: the company’s success should be measured by how well it serves its clients and provides for its employees.

“George Banzhaf & Company has been a venerable name in the forestry consulting industry for decades,” said Radcliffe. “Although in one sense this is the end of an era, the acquisition of GB&CO by such a strong organization as Prentiss & Carlisle brings a secure future to our employees and a broader mix of consulting and land management talent to our clients. It also creates exciting challenges for me personally, and I look forward to joining the P&C team.”

Radcliffe, now a vice president of Prentiss & Carlisle, will oversee P&C’s Lake States operations and lead in the development of an expanded consulting and valuation team.

“The acquisition makes Prentiss & Carlisle one of the few multiregional management firms in the country,” said White. “We now have the ability to service long-term management contracts in both the Midwest and Northeast, and we will be better able to provide appraisal and due-diligence consulting on a national scale.

“To acquire a renowned firm like George Banzhaf & Company – a firm with an established reputation for excellence, a very similar corporate culture, and a staff with complementary skills and a work ethic that rivals ours at Prentiss & Carlisle -- is just the opportunity we were seeking,” said White. “We are dedicated to growing the appraisal side of our business and to providing the high level of service we’re known for in all areas of forest management and consulting.”

Founded in 1924 as Banzhaf & Watson and incorporated as George Banzhaf & Company in 1939, the firm provided consulting services related to the measurement, valuation, and management of forest resources. During its 81-year history, GB&CO provided state-of-the-art advice, analyses, and technical services to policy-level decision makers in the public, private, non-profit, and institutional sectors of the forest products industry.