American Securities Announces Agreement to Sell Milk Specialties Global

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Dec 23, 2022, 09:00 ET

NEW YORK, Dec. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- American Securities LLC, a leading U.S. private equity firm, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell Milk Specialties Global ("Milk Specialties" or the "Company"), a leader in human and animal nutrition, to Butterfly. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023.

Founded in 1949 and based in Eden Prairie, MN, Milk Specialties is an industry-leading, vertically integrated ingredient manufacturer focused on the processing of raw dairy inputs, such as milk and liquid whey, into value-added functional ingredients for a variety of growing nutrition end markets. The Company's Human Nutrition segment is a leading performance nutrition manufacturer that produces high-quality dairy protein ingredients and products designed to optimize health and nutrition. Today, Milk Specialties' Human Nutrition segment is the largest producer of whey protein isolate in the world. The Company's Animal Nutrition segment is a leading provider of science-based animal nutrition products for the dairy industry.

Milk Specialties operates 12 state-of-the-art facilities strategically positioned across the U.S. that allow the Company to deliver high-quality, specialized ingredients and exceptional service to customers around the globe. It has been led for over fourteen years by CEO and industry veteran David Lenzmeier, who will continue to lead the business going forward.

"We are grateful for American Securities' investment in Milk Specialties, which has helped us accomplish multi-faceted growth to create a new global platform in specialty nutritional ingredients," said Mr. Lenzmeier. "Over the course of our partnership, we have achieved growth in three key areas: value-added and specialty products through strong R&D investment; co-manufacturing, which allows us to better deliver turnkey services for our customers; and international markets, serving new and existing customers on a global scale."

"We are proud and appreciative of David Lenzmeier and the entire Milk Specialties management team," commented Helen Chiang, a Managing Director of American Securities. "We invested behind attractive, long-term macroeconomic trends in health and wellness that we believed would leverage MSG's differentiated business model and market position to accelerate growth. During our partnership, the Company has invested approximately $150 million in supply chain, operations, and manufacturing to drive efficiencies and support volume growth of more than 70%, resulting in earnings nearly doubling."

"We are pleased to have partnered with David and the Milk Specialties management team to create more than 400 new U.S. jobs at the Company," said David Horing, a Managing Director of American Securities. "Sustainability has also been a priority over the course of our ownership, and we achieved 136 million gallons of annual wastewater savings, among other environmental improvements."

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, and Rabo Securities USA, Inc. acted as financial advisors to Milk Specialties and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP served as legal counsel.

About Milk Specialties Global

Milk Specialties Global is an industry-leading manufacturer of nutritional ingredients for the health and wellness, performance nutrition and functional food industries, with manufacturing facilities in WI, MN, NE, IL, ID and CA. The core of Milk Specialties' business is in high-percentage protein ingredients (whey protein concentrates, isolates and hydrolysates, as well as milk protein concentrates, isolates and micellar casein), lactose and permeate as well as value added ingredients. Additional information about Milk Specialties Global, including the benefits of its proprietary processing methods, can be found on www.milkspecialties.com.

About American Securities

Based in New York with an office in Shanghai, American Securities is a leading U.S. private equity firm that invests in market-leading North American companies with annual revenues generally ranging from $200 million to $2 billion. American Securities and its affiliates have more than $26 billion under management. For more information, visit www.american-securities.com.

SOURCE American Securities LLC