Investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Capital Partners (“MSCP”) today announced the sale of PPC Flexible Packaging (“PPC” or the “Company”) to GTCR. As part of the transaction, PPC management will continue to lead the Company and retain a significant minority stake. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Buffalo Grove, IL, PPC is a leading flexible packaging provider operating across ten manufacturing locations in the United States. Since MSCP’s initial investment in 2017, PPC and MSCP have pioneered industry-leading cleanroom packaging for healthcare and medical applications, snack and organic brands, as well as specialty produce, nutraceutical and bakery end markets, while remaining committed to providing best-in-class service, quality and product innovation. PPC has led consolidation in the flexible packaging industry, completing eight acquisitions since MSCP’s investment.

“We are proud to have partnered with Kevin and the PPC team as they built one of the industry leading platforms in the flexible packaging industry,” said Eric Kanter, Managing Director and Head of Industrials at MSCP. “We believe PPC has cemented itself as a unique, high growth innovator in the sector, and we have appreciated the opportunity to work with the entire PPC team during this transformational period at the Company. We are extremely grateful for their hard work and dedication over the past four years.”

“Four years ago, I partnered with MSCP as our growth partner because we believed they had the track record, deep sub-sector expertise, and operational focus to help build a leading player in the flexible packaging market,” Kevin Keneally, Chief Executive Officer of PPC, said. “MSCP has been a tremendous partner to the entire PPC team, continuously supporting our organic growth aspirations, operational initiatives, and M&A capabilities, and we thank them for their impactful contributions to the business.”

PPC was MSCP’s first investment in, and marks its first exit from, the packaging space, which has been a core sub-sector within MSCP’s broader Industrials effort. Since the investment in PPC, MSCP has also made control investments in Comar, a rigid healthcare packaging and medical components supplier, and AWT Labels & Packaging, a provider of labels and flexible packaging solutions.

William Blair acted as financial advisor to PPC, with co-advisory support from Raymond James and Mesirow. Jones Day served as legal advisor to MSCP.

About Morgan Stanley Capital Partners

Morgan Stanley Capital Partners, part of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, is a leading middle-market private equity platform that has invested capital in a broad spectrum of industries for over three decades. Morgan Stanley Capital Partners focuses on privately negotiated equity and equity-related investments primarily in North America and seeks to create value in portfolio companies primarily in a series of subsectors in the business services, consumer, healthcare, education and industrials markets with an emphasis on driving significant organic and acquisition growth through an operationally focused approach. For further information about Morgan Stanley Capital Partners, please visit www.morganstanley.com/im/capitalpartners.

Morgan Stanley Investment Management

Morgan Stanley Investment Management, together with its investment advisory affiliates, has more than 719 investment professionals around the world and $1.5 trillion in assets under management or supervision as of June 30, 2021. Morgan Stanley Investment Management strives to provide outstanding long-term investment performance, service and a comprehensive suite of investment management solutions to a diverse client base, which includes governments, institutions, corporations and individuals worldwide. For further information about Morgan Stanley Investment Management, please visit www.morganstanley.com/im.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a leading global financial services firm providing investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. With offices in more than 41 countries, the Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. For more information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com.

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