Longtime Berlin Packaging CEO Andrew Berlin has stepped down.
Berlin resigned as executive chairman, CEO and director effective immediately, according to a statement this morning from the Chicago-based company. The statement didn't say why he left but said it was "not due to any disagreement with the company regarding its financial reporting, financial policies or financial practices."
He'll be available to advise as needed the rest of the year, the statement said.
Andrew Berlin and the company did not immediately respond to requests for comment. He is an avid baseball fan who purchased a minority ownership stake in the Cubs in 2016.
The company has named John Zimmerman interim CEO. Zimmerman, former chief financial officer for global engineering and manufacturing group Tomkins, has been on Berlin's board since 2017.
Michael Grebe, former CEO at Home Depot-owned Interline Brands, was named executive chairman. Grebe, who has been a director of Berlin Packaging since April, said in the statement that the business still "remains on a solid upward trajectory and is poised to deliver on its financial objectives for the year."
New York-based private-equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners acquired the company several years ago, buying it from Investcorp in a $1.43 billion deal. Oak Hill did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Berlin has been CEO since he and his father bought the company in 1988. Since then, the company has seen 32 consecutive years of earnings growth, the statement said. Berlin Packaging ranked 44th on Crain's most recent list of the Chicago area's biggest privately held companies, and the statement said it had $1.4 billion in revenue last year.
