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Strategic Sale of Industrial Packaging Company

  • Location: Southeastern United States
  • Sectors: Industrial Packaging
  • Ownership: Privately Held
  • Situation Type: Strategic Divestiture

Company Overview:

Founded in the 1950s, the Company reconditions and sells steel drums and sells new drums and other industrial containers to customers in the oil and gas, specialty chemical, food & beverage, foundry, and environmental services industries. The Company's ownership changed hands in the 1970s and operated as a closely held family business for the next fifty years. Over that time, the Company established a market leading position in its geographic area and an excellent reputation in the industry. The family became an integral part of the local community and among the largest employers in the county. In 2008, the family patriarch handed control of day to day operations to the second generation family members who brought new energy to the business. They expanded the Company's product line, built a new state-of-the-art drum reconditioning facility with excess capacity and generated double digit revenue growth over a multi-year period.

Situation:

In late 2016, the interests of the second generation family members began to diverge and they expressed a desire to create some liquidity and diversify their family's net worth. They approached Brookline with a desire to evaluate all of their strategic options ranging from a debt recap with no transfer of ownership to an outright sale with full transfer of ownership.

Brookline Process:

Brookline worked closely with the second generation family members to evaluate the best outcome for each family. Brookline leveraged its knowledge of the current market environment and its relationships in the industrial packaging industry and determined with management to pursue an outright sale. Brookline quickly determined which suitors would benefit most from controlling the Company’s strategic assets and ran a confidential and efficient process to bring the best offers to the table. Meanwhile, Brookline managed the entire process to minimize disruption to management and the business. Ultimately, Brookline and management succeeded in obtaining a premium valuation for the Company and aligning the Company with a strategic partner that can continue to drive value creation for all stakeholders.

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