Fort Dearborn Company, a label converter headquartered Elk Grove, IL, USA, has announced that it has acquired AC Label, which includes St Louis Litho and St Louis Pressure Sensitive. AC Label was a portfolio company of Emigrant Capital Corp., the private equity subsidiary of Emigrant Bank. The company has three operating divisions in North America (Louisville, KY; Provo, UT; and St Louis, MO), employing approximately 200 people. 

“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,” says Fort Dearborn Chief Executive Officer Jeff Brezek. “We are very pleased to add AC Label to the Fort Dearborn Company 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 products including cut & 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, MO; Louisville, KY; and Provo, UT. The company’s solutions offering will be expanded to include additional pressure sensitive, cut & stack, roll-fed and digital printing capacity as well as extended specialty pressure sensitive (screening, stamping, extended text), cut & stack (bronzing) and prepress capabilities.

“This acquisition is a great strategic fit for us. 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,” adds Brezek.

“It has been a pleasure to have worked with the outstanding management team at AC Label,” says William Staudt, vice chairman of Emigrant Bank. “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 Company with unified systems, policies and processes.

“This is an exciting time for Fort Dearborn as we complete our second acquisition this year. 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,” concludes Brezek.