ProMach, a packaging machinery solutions company, announced that affiliates of Leonard Green & Partners, a leading private equity investment firm, have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the company from affiliates of AEA Investors. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 1998, ProMach is a family of packaging solution product brands serving manufacturers of all sizes, geographies and industries. ProMach product brands operate across the entire packaging spectrum providing solutions for nearly every application, including integration and engineering services for complete integrated packaging lines.
“We are excited to be partnering with Leonard Green as we enter our next phase of growth,” said Mark Anderson, president and CEO of ProMach. “The industry has changed dramatically over the past two decades, and so has ProMach. Through our strong partnership with AEA, and thanks to the hard work of every one of our dedicated employees, ProMach has become something truly remarkable. Our entire management team is looking forward to working with Leonard Green as we continue to build on our position as the premier provider of packaging line solutions across the globe. The team at Leonard Green has a strong reputation, understands our business, shares our vision and most importantly shares our passion to fulfill our highest priority—serving our customers.”
ProMach’s portfolio of product brands includes Allpax, Axon, Benchmark, Brenton, Dekka, Edson, EPI, Federal, Greydon, ID Technology, KLEENLine, Matrix, NJM, Orion, Ossid, P.E. Labellers, Pace, Pacific, PackLab, Rennco, Roberts PolyPro, Shuttleworth, Texwrap, Wexxar Bel, WLS, Zalkin and ZPI, along with the ProMach Performance Services line.
“ProMach has built an outstanding business model and has a proven track record of doing exactly what they say they’re going to do, through multiple ownership cycles,” said Chris McCollum, partner at Leonard Green & Partners. “Our investment philosophy is to partner with market-leading companies with multiple ways to grow, backed by best-in-class management teams. ProMach exemplifies this in a nearly unrivaled way in the packaging machinery space, making it an ideal fit. They are poised for continued strong growth and long-term success and we are very excited for this new partnership.”
Leonard Green & Partners, based in Los Angeles, is a leading private equity investment firm with more than $25 billion of assets currently under management. Since its founding in 1989, the firm has invested in over 90 companies primarily in the consumer services, business services, healthcare services, and retail sectors.
“We are extremely proud of the growth ProMach has achieved throughout our successful partnership,” said Tom Pryma, partner at AEA Investors. “At the onset with ProMach we mutually agreed on our long-term vision and goals for the business and their management team has delivered – meeting or exceeding every goal along the way. Together, we firmly established ProMach as a market leading, highly scalable, global packaging company with strong brand equity that is well positioned for success for years to come. We wish the ProMach team continued success under Leonard Green’s ownership.”
The transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2018 and is subject to customary closing conditions.
Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC served as lead financial advisor to ProMach. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC also provided financial advice to ProMach. Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP and Thompson Hine LLP acted as legal advisors to ProMach. Latham & Watkins LLP served as legal advisors to Leonard Green & Partners. Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc. and Goldman Sachs & Co. have underwritten and will arrange debt financing in connection with the transaction for Leonard Green & Partners.
