Multi-Color Corporation announced Friday that it has agreed to acquire 100 percent ownership of York Label Group, which has operations in North America and Chile. The approximate purchase price is $356 million, payable in debt assumed, Multi-Color stock and cash. Closing is expected on or about October 3.

The combined company is expected to have annual revenues of approximately $640 million at closing. This makes Multi-Color Corporation the largest label company in the United States, and the fastest growing globally with revenues more than tripling since the beginning of 2008.

York Label Group (owned by Adhesion Holdings Inc.), is headquartered in Omaha, NE, USA, and is privately held by Diamond Castle Holdings. York’s revenues for 2010 were approximately $240 million, including 100 percent of its joint venture in Chile, which is also being fully acquired as part of this transaction. The majority of York’s revenues are in the pressure sensitive label markets for home and personal care, food and beverage, wine and spirits, and healthcare. York has 12 plants across the US, Canada and Chile, with approximately 1,200 employees.

Nigel Vinecombe, Multi-Color’s president and CEO, will continue as president and CEO of the combined company. Diamond Castle representatives Ari Benacerraf and Lee Wright will join the Multi-Color board of directors upon closing of the transaction.

“Our customers will benefit from increased product offerings, greater flexibility and contingency, more investments in technology, increased access to innovation and greater consistency in quality and service as we take the best resources from both businesses and create higher overall performance standards,” Vinecombe says. “The strong strategic fit extends to common technology platforms and raw materials. It also brings further diversity to our customer base and the opportunity to grow with a broader range of customers.”

“We are committed to adding value to our shareholders and have very experienced management teams in the label industry with successful track records in effective integration, and York Label Group is in many ways a replica group of businesses for Multi-Color,” he adds. “This acquisition comes at a time when our existing businesses are performing well and ready for this natural progression. We continue to apply a consistent strategy of investing in consumer product staples, in this case with strong synergy benefits.”

Multi-Color Corporation has secured financing with a revised five-year $500 million credit facility, plus $100 million accordion that provides room for future acquisitions.

Based in Cincinnati, OH, USA, Multi-Color is a public company (NASDAQ: LABL). The company has 18 operations (prior to the York transaction) in North, Central and South America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and China, and employs about 1,650 people.