Mason Wells Announces the Sale of AWT Labels & Packaging

Mason Wells announced the closing of the sale of Advanced Web Technologies Holding Company (“AWT” or the “Company”) to investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Capital Partners (“MSCP”), the middle-market-focused private equity team at Morgan Stanley Investment Management headquartered in New York, NY. AWT operates under the trade name AWT Labels & Packaging and was a Mason Wells Buyout Fund III portfolio company.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, AWT is a leading provider of labels and flexible packaging solutions focused on healthcare, personal care, and food & beverage end markets. The Company operates through three facilities in the U.S. and holds a top three market position in the medical device labels and clinical trials labels segments. Through its innovative product design approach and swift speed to market, AWT helps customers address mission-critical application needs.

“We are very proud of the success that AWT has achieved under our ownership,” said Jay Radtke, senior managing director of Mason Wells. “Since our acquisition in 2015, we successfully executed the value creation plan that we developed together with the management team. We invested in new equipment to increase capacity and position the business for future growth. We also completed the acquisition of Citation Healthcare Labels, a leading provider of pharmaceutical clinical labels, which further expanded the Company’s healthcare labels business and complemented AWT’s existing medical device labels expertise. We would like to sincerely thank Jim Lundquist, CEO, Michelle Zeller, president & CFO, and the entire AWT team for their dedication and hard work during our time together. We wish them all the best as the business transitions to the new private equity owners, Morgan Stanley.”

“Mason Wells has been an outstanding partner for the business and the management team over the last five years,” said Jim Lundquist, CEO of AWT. “We really enjoyed the collaborative relationship with Mason Wells, who 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.”

Since 2007, Mason Wells has invested in a number of companies in the packaging materials and converting sector including past investments Oliver Products, Charter NEX Films, Coating Excellence International, Mullinix Packages, Nelipak Healthcare Packaging, and AWT, and current investments MGS Mfg. Group and Schoeneck Containers.

AWT was advised by Mesirow, and Quarles & Brady served as legal counsel.

For over 40 years, AWT Labels & Packaging has been providing high-quality labels and flexible packaging solutions for a diverse set of markets including healthcare, food and beverage, personal care, household, and OEM/industrial. AWT retains long-standing relationships with some of the most recognized brands and companies in the world by providing superior quality, unrivaled customer service, state-of-the art color management, and cutting-edge technical design capabilities. With approximately 300 employees, AWT operates three facilities, including the headquarters in Minneapolis, MN focused primarily on label converting (with some flexible packaging); a flexible packaging plant in South Elgin, IL; and a manufacturer and supplier of pharmaceutical labels used in clinical trials in Long Island, NY. For more information, please visit the Company’s website www.awtlabelpack.com.

Mason Wells is a leading Midwest-based private equity firm with approximately $1.5 billion in assets under management across its current private equity funds. Since Mason Wells was formed in 1998, its buyout funds have invested in four specific industry sectors: Outsourced Business Services, Consumer Packaged Goods, Engineered Products & Services, and Packaging Materials & Converting. For more information related to Mason Wells, please visit the firm’s website at www.masonwells.com.