A mill in St. Catharines, Ont., and five U.S. specialty paper and tissue mills are under new ownership following the sale of Dunn Paper to Arbor Investments, a Chicago-based private equity firm.
Wingate Partners, a Dallas-based private equity firm, completed the sale of its portfolio company, Dunn Paper, Inc. to Arbor on Aug. 29. Wingate partnered with the Dunn management team to acquire the business in July 2010. According to a statement from Wingate, the paper company quadrupled revenue and increased EBITDA by eight times since 2010.
“Brent (Earnshaw) and the Dunn team have done an outstanding job of executing day in and day out to achieve a compelling vision. They are first class people and world class operators,” said Brad Brenneman, chairman of Dunn and a partner at Wingate.
The new owner, Arbor Investments, focuses exclusively on acquiring premier companies in the food, beverage and related industries. Arbor has said the current senior management team at Dunn Paper will continue to lead the organization.
“From 2003, Dunn has built an incredible business on a foundation of strong organic growth and excellent manufacturing execution combined with selective strategic acquisitions,” said Richard Boos, partner of Arbor Investments. “Dunn is a well-positioned company within the specialty paper business with a focus on food and consumer products end customers. We intend to leverage Arbor’s food expertise to further Dunn’s market penetration.”
Related news:
Ontario mill included in Clearwater Paper sale
Brent Earnshaw, Dunn’s CEO, commented, “Our focus on the food industry and also the broader consumer markets make Arbor a perfect fit for our company. Arbor understands our value proposition and believes in the strategic focus of our company. We are enthusiastic about the next phase of growth for Dunn.”
“The specialty paper sector presents a great investment opportunity,” added Arbor CEO, Gregory Purcell. “Dunn has a unique and compelling niche within the food packaging sector that we believe can be significantly expanded over the next several years. Going forward, we expect to deploy Arbor’s resources, capital and over 20 years of acquisition expertise to further expand Dunn’s reach and capabilities within the specialty paper industry.”
Dunn Paper supplies high-performance, advanced paper materials for a range of lightweight technical food packaging and consumer markets. The company produces an array of specialty waxed, coated, and uncoated MG papers used in various foodservice and flexible packaging markets as well as high absorbency, porous and lightweight tissue products for niche consumer applications.
Print this page
