Private equity firm Platinum Equity has sealed a deal to buy container company BWAY Parent Company Inc. from its current owners for a proposed $1.24 billion, BWAY announced late Tuesday.
Latham & Watkins is advising Beverly Hillsbased Platinum on the acquisition, with Kirkland & Ellis serving as legal counsel to Atlanta-based BWAY. The deal, expected to close in the fourth quarter of the year, will be funded through equity from Platinum and members of BWAY management, as well as committed debt financing provided by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank.
Chicago-based Madison Dearborn Partners bought BWAY for about $900 million in 2010 and has been overhauling the company since then, according to Bloomberg. Sources tell Bloomberg that the current sale attracted more than six potential bidders.
Founded in 1875, BWAY originally made pie tins and other household products. The company now has 22 plants throughout the United States and Canada and makes metal and plastic containers ranging from plastic pails for storing oils, solvents, and paints to U.S. Department of Defenseapproved ammunition boxes.
Platinum Equity, founded in 1995 by billionaire and Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores, turned to a familiar face as lead deal counsel on the matter: Latham’s Washington, D.C., basedpartner David Brown, who lists Platinum as one of his representative clients on the firm’s website.
Brown, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday, worked on the deal with other Latham lawyers including New York tax partner Lisa Watts; Washington, D.C., environmental partners James Barrett and Christine Rolph; D.C. capital markets partner Patrick Shannon; D.C. finance partner Jennifer Van Driesen; D.C. benefits and compensation partner David Della Rocca; Chicago real estate partner David Shapiro; and D.C. intellectual property counsel Kieran Dickinson.
The Kirkland team advising BWAY is led by Chicago partners Carol Anne Huff, Richard Campbell, Jon-Micheal Wheat, and Michael Wright. Through a spokeswoman, the Kirkland attorneys declined to comment on the deal.
