Chicago,
Illinois - On July 30, 2004, Code Hennessy & Simmons IV
LP completed the sale of Kranson Holding Company to KII Holding
Corporation, an entity controlled by AEA Investors, a New
York-based private equity firm. The transaction resulted in
an attractive IRR to Fund IV, which acquired a majority ownership
of the Company in October 1999.
Kranson is the leading full-service distributor
of outsourced rigid packaging solutions in North America.
Founded in 1902 and headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri,
the Company markets its services under the trade names TricorBraun™
and Caliber Wine Group. Kranson provides a broad assortment
of more than 32,000 rigid packaging containers and related
components, including bottles, jars, tubes, cans, dispensers,
closures and other associated items, as well as a variety
of complementary services, to a wide range of end-markets.
Kranson completed three accretive add-on acquisitions since
October 1999 that expanded the Company’s geographical
presence and product offerings.
According to David O. Hawkins, a Partner
at Code Hennessy & Simmons LLC, “Kranson performed
remarkably well throughout a difficult economic period due
to the hard work of the Company’s high-caliber management
team.”
Keith Strope, President and Chief Executive
Officer of Kranson remarked, “Kranson benefited significantly
from the strong, collaborative relationship between our management
team and CHS. We jointly developed operational and financial
goals designed to grow equity value, and worked seamlessly
to successfully reach those objectives. Further, CHS played
a critical role in the sourcing, financing and execution of
each add-on acquisition.” |