Wilmington-based Global Earth Energy (GLER) has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by Charleston, S.C.-based Hawk Manufacturing, Hawk officials announced this week.
 
The transaction is expected to close by the end of January, according to a news release.
 
The transaction is actually a reverse merger. Currently, GLER owns a 20 percent interest in Hawk Manufacturing, which in turn owns 20 percent of GLER. Terms of the proposed deal call for Hawk to acquire “a significant majority of the shares in Global Earth Energy,” the release stated. Then, all subsidiaries of Hawk Manufacturing and Global Early Energy will be rolled into the new entity.
 
Global Earth Energy will move its headquarters to Charleston and eventually trade as Hawk Manufacturing Inc., after FINRA’s regulatory approvals for a new symbol and company name, according to the release. A new leadership team, headed by Hawk’s Stacey J. Ragsdale and John Ragsdale, will take the reins.
 
Current GLER CEO Sydney Harland and chairwoman Betty Harland will resign and retire from their current positions but will remain on the board of the new entity. They were essentially the only company staff in Wilmington.
 
The proposed merger is a variation on a proposed plan outlined by Rich Kaiser, a business consultant acting as GLER spokesman, in a December interview. At that time, Kaiser said that GLER’s ultimate goal was to purchase – either directly or through Hawk Manufacturing – a total interest in all of the companies in which it currently has a part interest.
 
GLER has undergone several changes – including a name change – since its establishment in 1996, but it has always been involved in the oil and gas business, Kaiser said in December.
The company adopted its current name in 2008 and within the past several months, it has announced several strategic alliances and acquisitions.
 
On Dec. 13, GLER announced the engagement of Condor Acquisitions Inc., a private mergers and acquisitions firm, to provide advisory services for the company in the areas of strategic mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, financial structuring and other asset acquisitions and divestitures.