Founded in 1949 and based in Eden Prairie, Minn., Milk Specialties is an ingredient manufacturer focused on the processing of raw dairy inputs, such as milk and liquid whey, into value-added functional ingredients for a variety of growing nutrition end markets. The company's Human Nutrition segment is a leading performance nutrition manufacturer that produces dairy protein ingredients and products designed to optimize health and nutrition.

Milk Specialties operates 12 state-of-the-art facilities strategically positioned across the U.S. that allow the Company to deliver high-quality, specialized ingredients and exceptional service to customers around the globe. It has been led for over fourteen years by CEO and industry veteran David Lenzmeier, who will continue to lead the business going forward.

"We are grateful for American Securities' investment in Milk Specialties, which has helped us accomplish multi-faceted growth to create a new global platform in specialty nutritional ingredients," said Lenzmeier. "Over the course of our partnership, we have achieved growth in three key areas: value-added and specialty products through strong R&D investment; co-manufacturing, which allows us to better deliver turnkey services for our customers; and international markets, serving new and existing customers on a global scale."

"We are proud and appreciative of David Lenzmeier and the entire Milk Specialties management team," added Helen Chiang, a Managing Director of American Securities. "We invested behind attractive, long-term macroeconomic trends in health and wellness that we believed would leverage MSG's differentiated business model and market position to accelerate growth. During our partnership, the Company has invested approximately $150 million in supply chain, operations, and manufacturing to drive efficiencies and support volume growth of more than 70%, resulting in earnings nearly doubling."

"We are pleased to have partnered with David and the Milk Specialties management team to create more than 400 new U.S. jobs at the company," stated David Horing, a Managing Director of American Securities. "Sustainability has also been a priority over the course of our ownership, and we achieved 136 million gallons of annual wastewater savings, among other environmental improvements."

Milk Specialties Global won the 2020 Dairy Foods and ADPI Breakthrough Award winner in Dairy Ingredient Innovation.