Snow Phipps Group has completed its acquisition of Brook & Whittle, a maker of pressure sensitive labels, from RFE Investment Partners and Charter Oak Equity which acquired the company in March 2009.
Brook & Whittle is a manufacturer of pressure sensitive labels and sleeve shrink labels that are used in the non-carbonated beverage, food and personal care industries. The company’s printing capabilities include UV flexographic, rotogravure and digital. In April 2011, under RFE and Charter Oak ownership, Brook & Whittle acquired Amherst, NY-based Packstar Group, a provider of heat shrinkable packaging products used in the personal care, beverage and food sectors. Brook & Whittle was founded in 1996 and operates three production facilities in North Branford, CT (headquarters), Guilford, CT and Amherst, NY (www.brookandwhittle.com).
Snow Phipps will partner on this transaction with the existing Brook & Whittle senior management team led by co-founder and CEO Steve Stewart. “Snow Phipps is bringing highly relevant experience and capital to our business,” said Mr. Stewart. “We have a fantastic group of employees who are eager to enter this new stage of growth and take our business to the next level.”
“We are very excited to partner with a market leading producer in Brook & Whittle. We are confident that the company is well-positioned to capitalize on significant growth opportunities, and look forward to supporting our investment with additional capital for growth projects and follow-on acquisitions,” said Ian Snow, CEO and Partner of Snow Phipps.
Snow Phipps makes control investments in companies primarily located in North America with enterprise values ranging from $100 million to $500 million that require equity investments ranging from $40 million to $100 million. The firm has $1.5 billion of assets under management and was co-founded by Ian Snow and Ogden Phipps in April 2005. Snow Phipps is headquartered in New York (www.snowphipps.com).
Snow Phipps Operating Partner Don Sturdivant, an experienced packaging industry executive, will join Brook & Whittle as the non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr. Sturdivant was hired by Snow Phipps as an Operating Partner in September 2016 to focus on the packaging industry. “Steve and his team have built a market leading platform with a stellar reputation backed up by outstanding customer service, technical capabilities and innovation,” said Mr. Sturdivant. “The company’s customer and technology centric mindset has forged a number of strong long-term relationships with ample runway for future growth. We look forward to working with Brook & Whittle towards accelerating that growth trajectory.”
RFE Investment Partners makes control equity investments of $10 million to $35 million in North American small market companies with at least $5 million in EBITDA and enterprise values of $20 million to $100 million. Sectors of interest include business services; industrial; healthcare services; technology, media, and telecom; and consumer. RFE was founded in 1979 and is based in New Canaan, CT (www.rfeip.com).
Charter Oak Equity invests in niche manufacturing, value-added distribution, and service companies ranging in size from $25 million to $150 million of enterprise value. Charter Oak was founded in 2006 and is based in Westport, CT (www.charteroak-equity.com).
© 2017 Private Equity Professional | October 19, 2017
