• Rocky Pontikes (Senior Managing Director, Co-Head of Investment Banking) and Melanie Yermack (Managing Director, Co-Head of Packaging) served as transaction leads
• The Kennedy Group’s sale to Inovar Packaging Group represents the tenth packaging transaction Mesirow has completed in the last year, highlighting the firm’s expertise and relationships within the broader Packaging industry

CHICAGO, August 7, 2024 – Mesirow is proud to announce that it served as the exclusive financial advisor to The Kennedy Group, LLC (“The Kennedy Group” or the “Company”) on its sale to Inovar Packaging Group (“Inovar”).

Family-owned and operated since 1974, The Kennedy Group is a premier label and packaging platform with two facilities based in Willoughby, Ohio and Levittown, Pennsylvania.  The Kennedy Group has a well-known reputation for being a highly innovative, customer-focused and employee-oriented business.  With state-of-the-art pressure sensitive, roll-fed and RFID capabilities, the Company focuses on accounts in the beverage, agriculture, automotive, food, supply chain, health & beauty, industrial and household industries. 

“We are excited to bring The Kennedy Group’s 50 years of industry leadership to partner with Inovar.  We believe combining these two companies under one platform creates a best-in-class organization,” said Mike, Pat and Todd Kennedy, leaders of The Kennedy Group. “Mesirow’s relationships and credibility in the label sector were crucial in delivering an ideal partner and exceptional outcome for The Kennedy Group’s stakeholders, employees and valued customers.”  

Rocky Pontikes, Senior Managing Director and Co-Head of Investment Banking commented, “We were pleased to represent the Kennedys in this transaction.”   Melanie Yermack, Managing Director and Co-Head of Packaging added, “We continue to see strong interest in the label sector.  The Kennedy Group’s reputation, technical expertise and strong customer relationships differentiate the Company and yielded significant interest.  We look forward to following The Kennedy Group’s continued success in partnership with Inovar.”

The sale of The Kennedy Group represents another successful label transaction completed by Mesirow Investment Banking. Mesirow is one of the most active advisors in the packaging industry, having completed more than 200 transactions in the last 25 years. By leveraging extensive sector-specific expertise across industry groups and nurturing deep longstanding relationships, Mesirow has amassed a proven track record of highly tailored and successful transactions on behalf of its clients.