Morgan Stanley Investment Management has bought out AWT Labels & Packaging from fellow private equity firm Mason Wells.
Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, AWT is a provider of labels and flexible packaging focused on healthcare, personal care, food and beverage, household, and OEM/industrial end markets. Founded in 1976, AWT operates out of three facilities in the US and holds a top three market position in the medical device labels and clinical trials labels segments. Digital printing sits within AWT’s production mix.
Specific to this transaction, investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Capital Partners (MSCP), the middle-market focused private equity team at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, has completed the investment in AWT from Mason Wells Buyout Fund III. Mason Wells acquired AWT in 2015, after which it invested in new equipment to increase AWT’s capacity and better position the company for future growth. Mason Wells also completed the acquisition of Citation Healthcare Labels, a provider of pharmaceutical clinical labels, ‘which further expanded AWT’s healthcare labels business and complemented AWT’s existing medical device labels expertise,’ according to Jay Radtke, senior managing director of Mason Wells.
AWT CEO Jim Lundquist described Mason Wells as, ‘an outstanding partner for the business and the management team over the last five years.
‘We really enjoyed the collaborative relationship with Mason Wells, which provided strategic direction, built a strong board of directors, and demonstrated a willingness to invest in the business through facility and equipment investments, as well as a strategic acquisition. We have achieved tremendous growth and operational improvements in partnership with Mason Wells over the past several years, and the future looks bright for AWT.’
Looking towards AWT’s next phase of growth, president Michelle Zeller said, ‘With MSCP’s support, expertise, deep industry knowledge and network in packaging, we plan to expand our current capabilities and geographic footprint while continuing to provide the highest quality products to our customers.’
Eric Kanter, MSCP managing director, said, ‘We are excited to partner with AWT and its talented management team. The team has built a phenomenal platform that serves attractive, defensive end markets with best-in-class R&D capabilities. We look forward to building upon the company’s prior success by investing in assets, capabilities and the management team and continuing to deliver innovative packaging solutions through organic initiatives and acquisitions.’
Mr Kanter has become chairman of AWT as part of the transaction.
MSCP investing in AWT is the latest in a spate of M&A activity throughout the label and package printing industry, such as Kongsberg being sold to OpenGate Capital, Bobst taking control of Mouvent and Fortis acquiring Kala. This is set to be a recurring theme in 2021, according to multiple contributors to the Digital Labels & Packaging 2021 trends and predictions article, which you can read here.
