Houston, TX October 01, 2015
The Sterling Group, a private equity firm based in Houston, Texas, announced that it has completed the sale of Liqui-Box to funds managed by Olympus Partners. Sterling acquired the business from DuPont in 2011, its fourth carve-out from DuPont. Sterling has completed 22 corporate carve-outs since its inception in 1982.
Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, Liqui-Box is a leading global player in the bag-in-box industry. The company designs and supplies liquid packaging systems to meet filling and dispensing needs across numerous end markets, including dairy, beverage, food, and wine.
Sterling engineered the complicated separation of the global Liqui-Box business from DuPont, established a new corporate headquarters, and implemented a wide variety of systems and processes so that the business could operate on a standalone basis. “Sterling’s long history executing corporate carve-outs, the first of which occurred in 1984, was a critical factor in our success with the Liqui-Box investment,” said Greg Elliott, Partner at The Sterling Group.
Sterling and management, led by CEO Ken Swanson, drove substantial organic EBITDA growth of over 45% during Sterling’s ownership period, but just as important established an independent company that will serve as a platform for strong future growth. “The company has improved operations, expanded into new geographies and end markets, and successfully reached new customers. The result is new levels of growth and profitability at Liqui-Box,” said Ken Swanson, CEO.
Sterling focuses on implementing its operational investment strategy to fundamentally grow and improve North American based industrial businesses. The Sterling Group was advised on the sale by Harris Williams & Co, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
About The Sterling Group
Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity investment firm that targets controlling interests in basic manufacturing, distribution and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies range from $100 million to $500 million. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 46 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $10.0 billion. Currently, Sterling has over $2.4 billion of assets under management. Current portfolio companies include CST Industries, Universal Fiber Systems, Express, Saxco International, Dexter Axle, Safe Fleet, Specified Air Solutions, American Bath Group and ProcessBarron.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results and all investments are subject to loss.
The Sterling Group is an operationally focused middle market private equity firm that builds winning businesses for customers, employees and investors.
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