Fort Dearborn Acquires AC Label

ELK GROVE, IL—June 18, 2013—Fort Dearborn has acquired AC Label, which includes St Louis Litho and St Louis Pressure Sensitive. AC Label was a portfolio company of Emigrant Capital, the private equity subsidiary of Emigrant Bank.

“The acquisition of AC Label enhances Fort Dearborn’s leadership position in the decorative label marketplace by broadening our geographic footprint, capabilities and market penetration,” said Fort Dearborn CEO Jeff Brezek. “We are very pleased to add AC Label to the Fort Dearborn organization and look forward to the opportunity to expand our presence in the spirits, beverage, nutraceutical and confectionery end markets.”

Fort Dearborn supplies a complete range of label solutions including cut and stack, pressure-sensitive, roll-fed and full-body shrink-sleeve labels across multiple printing technologies, including digital, lithographic, flexographic and rotogravure. The company will now have three additional facilities: St. Louis; Louisville, KY; and Provo, UT. The company’s solutions offering will be expanded to include additional pressure-sensitive, cut and stack, roll-fed and digital printing capacity, as well as extended specialty pressure-sensitive (screening, stamping, extended text), cut and stack (bronzing) and prepress capabilities.

“This acquisition is a great strategic fit for us,” added Brezek. “Like Fort Dearborn, AC Label has long established relationships with a blue chip customer base and a reputation for high quality and excellent service. With this acquisition, all of our customers will benefit from our expanded production options, increased flexibility and even greater geographic reach.”

William Staudt, vice chairman of Emigrant Bank, also relayed: “It has been a pleasure to have worked with the outstanding management team at AC Label. We are confident AC Label will be a substantial contributor to Fort Dearborn’s business.”

Fort Dearborn’s management team is experienced in executing and integrating add-on acquisitions effectively and fully anticipates the addition of AC Label to be an important contributor to Fort Dearborn’s near-term and ongoing success. The acquisition is expected to be seamless to existing customers. Upon integration, the additional facilities will operate as Fort Dearborn with unified systems, policies and processes.

“This is an exciting time for Fort Dearborn as we complete our second acquisition this year,” noted Brezek. “We are excited to bring the AC Label associates onboard to help drive our continued success. As a platform company, we will continue to pursue acquisitions that broaden our product and service offerings and deliver unparalleled value to our customers.”

About Fort Dearborn
Fort Dearborn is a leading supplier of high-impact decorative labels for the beverage, food, household products, paint and coatings, personal care, private label/retail and spirits markets. Headquartered in Illinois, the company has ten operating divisions in North America, employing approximately 1200 associates.

About Emigrant Capital
Emigrant Capital is a private equity firm that provides flexible capital solutions to finance acquisitions, fund growth, create liquidity and meet the other financial needs of middle-market businesses and their owners. In addition to providing the optimal capital structure, it provides a wealth of other resources to help ensure success of its investments.

About AC Label
AC Label is a leading supplier of specialty cut and stack and pressure-sensitive labels primarily for the beverage, nutraceutical and spirits markets. The company has three operating divisions in North America (Louisville, KY; Provo, UT; and St Louis), employing approximately 200 associates.

Source: Fort Dearborn.