TORONTO (May 14, 2019) – Northleaf Capital Partners (Northleaf), a leading global private markets investment firm, today announced that funds managed by Northleaf acted as the lead investor supporting the acquisition of a majority position in Material Sciences Corporation (MSC) by Sky Island Capital (Sky Island). Headquartered in Canton, Michigan, MSC is a leading technology provider of metal solutions for acoustical, light-weighting and coil coated applications for a wide variety of end markets.
“Northleaf was a collaborative partner, with the ability to move quickly and help us execute an important transaction for Sky Island and MSC,” said Jack Waterstreet, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Sky Island. “Based on our previous experience with MSC, we are excited to work with Northleaf to position MSC for the next stage of its growth.”
“We are delighted to have invested with Sky Island and completed this transaction for MSC,” said Matt Shafer, Managing Director at Northleaf. “MSC is a well-established company with a proven ability to provide differentiated solutions for its customers, and Sky Island’s support will allow the company to further enhance its capabilities.”
Moelis & Company and Jones Day acted as financial and legal advisors, respectively, to Sky Island. Akin Gump acted as legal advisor to Northleaf.
About Northleaf Capital Partners
Northleaf Capital Partners is an independent global private markets fund manager with more than US$12 billion in private equity, private credit and infrastructure commitments under management on behalf of public, corporate and multi-employer pension plans, endowments, foundations, financial institutions and family offices. Northleaf’s 130-person team, located in Toronto, Montreal, London, New York, Chicago, Menlo Park and Melbourne, is focused exclusively on sourcing, evaluating and managing private markets investments globally. Northleaf’s portfolio includes more than 350 active investments in 34 countries, with a focus on mid-market companies and assets. For more information on Northleaf, please visit www.northleafcapital.com.
About Material Sciences Corporation
Material Sciences Corporation produces advanced materials and specialty coated metals that are engineered to address light-weighting, noise, vibration, and harshness (“NVH”), corrosion, architectural, and aesthetic needs for a wide variety of end markets including transportation, building products, packaging, and consumer goods. Headquartered in metro Detroit, Michigan, MSC has production facilities in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, East Chicago, Indiana, Walbridge and Canfield, Ohio and Toronto, Ontario. For more information, visit www.materialsciencescorp.com.
About Sky Island Capital
Sky Island Capital is a middle market private equity firm based in Dallas, Texas that makes control investments in strategically viable North American manufacturing companies that exhibit transformational upside potential. Sky Island focuses on situations where it can draw upon its deep operational experience to support senior management in driving significant value creation through operational and strategic partnership, including add-on acquisitions. For more information, visit www.skyislandcap.com.
For more information, contact:
Transaction-related inquiries:
Matt Shafer
Managing Director
t: +1 646 844 1074
e: matthew.shafer@northleafcapital.com
Investor and media inquiries:
Nadine Cannata
Director, Marketing & Communications
t: +1 416 477 6623
e: nadine.cannata@northleafcapital.com