Ascendant Consulting Partners LLC announced Jan. 3 that it has completed a capital restructuring for Saint Joseph, Mo.-based LifeLine Foods LLC. The capital restructuring consisted of a $25 million equity raise of preferred stock from existing shareholders and the extension of a new $20 million revolving credit facility with Wells Fargo Capital Finance. The proceeds of the preferred stock investment will be used to complete capital expenditures to upgrade mill efficiency, provide working capital and to pay down debt.

This capital restructuring and liquidity injection strengthened Lifeline Food’s financial health, and the mill upgrade will be transformative for the business, according to Scott McDermott, partner with Ascendant. The state-of-the-art corn mill will nearly double the conversion of corn to food. Lifeline’s unique process produces food such as flour, meal and grits, up to 50 MMgy of ethanol and a broad range of coproducts that go into the feed and industrial markets.

Jay Lang, chief financial officer of Lifeline, said, “Ascendant did a great job of engineering the capital restructuring and was a valuable member of the team.”

LifeLine is a privately owned company, with 51 percent ownership from AgraMarke Quality Grains, a cooperative comprised of over 600 producers located primarily in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska. The remaining 49 percent ownership is from ICM Inc.

Ascendant Consulting Partners is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ascendant Partners Inc., a Colorado-based, business and financial advisory firm dedicated to helping mid-size agribusiness, food and renewable energy companies protect and enhance shareholder value.