Madison Dearborn Makes Nearly 2x Their Money on BWAY

It only took two years for Madison Dearborn Partners to nearly double its money on BWAY Parent Co.

Platinum Equity said earlier this week that it agreed to buy BWAY for $1.24 billion. Atlanta-based BWAY makes paint and aerosol cans as well as steel open and tight-headed pails. The sale is expected to close in fourth quarter.

Chicago-based Madison Dearborn acquired BWAY in June 2010 in a deal valued at $915 million. Madison Dearborn, and certain members of management, invested about $294 million equity, according to SEC filings.

The company, just months after its sale to MDP, issued $150 million in PIK Toggle notes and used the proceeds to pay a dividend of $138.4 million to shareholders, regulatory filings say.

The Deal says that MDP received another $400 million in cash from the transaction.

It’s unclear how much in debt BWAY has right now. The company produced about $1 billion in sales for the year ended Sept. 30. Long-term debt was  $683.8 million, SEC filings say.

With the BWAY sale, Madison Dearborn will make about 2x its investment, peHUB has learned.

BWAY is the latest exit for MDP. In August, MDP completed its sale of Bolthouse Farms to Campbell Soup for about $1.55 billion. Madison Dearborn, in February, also agreed to sell TransUnion, which it owned with the Pritzker family, to Advent and GS Capital. The deal was valued at $3 billion.

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