Oak Hill Capital Partners has entered into an agreement to acquire Berlin Packaging, a supplier of rigid packaging products and services, from Investcorp for $1.43 billion. Oak Hill is investing in partnership with Berlin Packaging’s current management team, led by Chairman and CEO Andrew Berlin. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2014.
“Berlin Packaging is a high-caliber business experiencing double-digit growth and targeting a large addressable market opportunity,” said Tyler Wolfram, Managing Partner at Oak Hill. “We are excited to partner with Andrew Berlin and his talented team to support the company through its next phase of growth, as the company expands organically and through strategic acquisitions. The transaction is representative of Oak Hill’s theme-based investment approach and long history of partnering with world-class entrepreneurs and management teams.”
Berlin Packaging is a supplier of plastic, glass, metal containers and closures, and other services. The company – with 33,000 SKUs – supplies billions of containers and closures annually as well as warehousing and logistics services for customers of all sizes in all industries. Berlin Packaging’s services include structural and brand design, sourcing, warehousing and logistics, and capital financing. The company has 90 sales and warehouse locations across North America. Berlin Packaging was founded in 1898 as Riekes Container Company and is headquartered in Chicago (www.BerlinPackaging.com).
“We have tremendous respect for Berlin Packaging’s heritage and are very excited about its prospects for continued strong performance. Berlin Packaging is a juggernaut that already grows multiple times faster than the packaging industry, and we look forward to further bolstering the company’s best-in-class business model and customer focus to continue its growth trajectory,” said Brian Cherry, Partner at Oak Hill.
Oak Hill Capital Partners has $8 billion of committed capital and invests in the following six sectors: basic industries; business and financial services; consumer, retail & distribution; healthcare; media & telecom; and technology. Over the past 25 years, the professionals at Oak Hill and its predecessors have invested in more than 70 private equity transactions. The firm is located in Stamford, CT (www.oakhillcapital.com).
“We are extremely pleased to be partnering with Oak Hill. Oak Hill has a longstanding history of building superior businesses and a reputation for strong partnership with management. It was important to join with a firm that shares the same culture and belief system as Berlin Packaging and that is committed to growing our company by offering increased value to our customers, suppliers, and employees,” said Andrew Berlin. “I know Oak Hill will be a tremendous partner for us. We would also like to thank Investcorp for their partnership over the last seven years.”
Investcorp invests in mid-size companies operating in an array of industry sectors that have total enterprise values of between $200 million and $1 billion and are located in North America or Western Europe. As at June 30, 2013, Investcorp had $10.5 billion in total assets under management. The group has offices in New York, London, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia (www.investcorp.com).
“Andrew Berlin and the entire Berlin Packaging management team have done an outstanding job of building a market leading company with a highly differentiated business model and a track record of strong financial performance,” said Kevin Nickelberry, Managing Director at Investcorp. “Over the course of our partnership, Berlin Packaging improved its profitability, delivered strong organic growth, and executed several strategic add-on acquisitions. We are proud of what we accomplished with the Berlin Packaging team and we wish them continued success with Oak Hill.”
Deutsche Bank AG New York Branch, Deutsche Bank Securities and Morgan Stanley Senior Funding have underwritten and will arrange first and second lien financing in connection with the transaction. Barclays Capital and Deutsche Bank acted as financial advisors to Berlin Packaging in the transaction. Morgan Stanley acted as exclusive financial advisor to Oak Hill in the transaction.
© 2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 8-26-14
