Novvia Group Acquires Ocean State Packaging

                                                                                St. Louis, M.O. – December 4, 2023

Global rigid container and life sciences packaging distributor, Novvia Group (“Novvia”), has acquired Ocean State Packaging, Inc. (“Ocean State”), a Rhode Island based supplier of plastic bottles and other rigid packaging products. Financial terms of the private transaction were not disclosed. Novvia is backed by Kelso & Company (“Kelso”).

Founded in 1990, Ocean State is a trusted supplier of stock and custom packaging solutions to a national network of long-tenured customers spanning diverse end markets. Ocean State offers a wide selection of bottle shapes, sizes, and substrates, along with caps and closures for a variety of applications. With offices in Rhode Island and New Jersey, Ocean State provides consultative sales support and a suite of value-added services, including design and decoration capabilities.

“We are excited to partner with Novvia to continue growing our business,” said Brian Beneduce, President of Ocean State. “We intend to draw on a long history of customer service and our ‘one-stop-shop’ philosophy to deliver additional value to our loyal customers as part of the national Novvia platform.”

The acquisition marks Novvia’s entry into the New England market and represents a cornerstone of the company’s Northeast strategy. “Ocean State Packaging has built an impressive business over its 33-year history, and we welcome the company to the Novvia family,” said Ken Roessler, Executive Chairman of Novvia. “We look forward to investing in Ocean State’s markets as we grow our footprint of Northeast based employees, customers, and suppliers,” added Roessler. For more information about Ocean State, please visit oceanstatepackaging.com.

About Novvia Group

Novvia Group is a leader in high-quality packaging solutions and customized services with domestic and international customers across myriad industries. Through its family of dynamic companies, comprised of Inmark, C.L. Smith, Silver Spur, Container Supply, Fox Valley, Rhino, Novvia Canada, Southern Container, Duval Container, Rios, Auberst, Innovative Container, Rahway, Northern Container, and Ocean State, Novvia has set a new industry standard as a national stocking distributor with a comprehensive suite of containers and supplies, trusted local relationships and 40+ years of best-in-class customer service. For more information, please visit www.novviagroup.com.

About Kelso

Kelso is one of the oldest and most established firms specializing in private equity investing. Since 1980, Kelso has invested approximately $19 billion of equity capital in over 140 transactions. Kelso was founded by the inventor of the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) and, as a result, the principles of partnership and alignment of interest serve as the foundation of the firm’s investment philosophy. Kelso benefits from a successful investment track record, deep sector expertise, a long-tenured and stable investing team, and a reputation as a preferred partner to management teams and corporate partners. Kelso has significant experience investing in and supporting high-growth distribution and packaging platforms. The firm is based in New York, NY. For more information, please visit www.kelso.com.