Big deals, big money in 2021 M&A final numbers

Packaging leader ProAmpac and diverse processor Tekni-Plex set the pace for plastics mergers and acquisitions with multiple deals in the second half of 2021.

Cincinnati-based ProAmpac, a unit of Pritzker Private Capital, made five second-half deals and eight in 2021 overall. Three of the firm's second-half deals took place in Ireland, where it acquired Fispak Ltd., a maker and distributor of food packaging; distribution firm Irish Flexible Packaging; and Euroflex TEO, a supplier of high-barrier flexible packaging.

ProAmpac also acquired flexible packaging and printing firm Ultimate Packaging of Grimsby, England, and Prairie State Group, a maker of flexible packaging and labels based in Franklin Park, Ill., during the second half of the year.

In a news release, ProAmpac officials said that the PSG acquisition "strengthens [the firm's] flexible and sustainable packaging offerings for the food and pet food markets and expands its labeling capabilities."

Tekni-Plex of Wayne, Pa., made four second-half deals and now has made 17 since 2016. In the second half, the firm bought Colombian rigid packaging maker Grupo Phoenix; vented liners maker M-Industries LLC of Ada, Mich.; Keyes Packaging Group, a maker of fiber-based packaging products in Wenatchee, Wash.; and Mexicali, Mexico-based precision extruder Johnson Plastic Group.

Other firms making multiple second-half plastics deals included Tide Rock Holdings LLC, which bought injection molders Pikes Peak Plastics Co. LLC of Colorado Springs, Colo., and Altratek Plastics Inc. of Longmont, Colo. Altratek also makes tooling. Tide Rock kept its streak going in early 2022 by purchasing Plastic Molding Technology Inc., a well-known injection molder based in El Paso, Texas.

Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based TriMas Corp. made a pair of deals, acquiring Omega Plastics Inc. and TFI Aerospace. Omega is an injection molder and mold maker, while TFI supplies fasteners.

Specialized Packaging Group made a pair of late-year deals, acquiring Packaging Concepts & Designs and Packaging Specialists Inc. Both Troy, Mich.-based PC&D and Phoenix-based PSI were owned by private equity firm O2 Investment Partners of Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

Private equity firm Core Industrial Partners LLC acquired three related companies specializing in 3D printing, equipment and materials. Those firms — 3DXTech LLC, Triton 3D LLC and Gearbox3D LLC — share a 68,000-square-foot facility in Grand Rapids, Mich.

C-P Flexible Packaging Inc. of York, Pa., also made three deals, acquiring Norcross, Ga.-based Sycamore Sales Inc. — which does business as Preferred Packaging, a maker of multilayer films and thermoformed containers — and then adding Fruth Custom Packaging Inc. and Cleanroom Film and Bag Inc., two rollstock and pouch makers with common ownership in Placentia, Calif.

In two cases, the hunter became the hunted in M&A. PPC Flexible Packaging LLC of Buffalo Grove, Ill., made its eighth deal in four years when it acquired Consumer Packaging Group Inc. of Hartland, Wis., a provider of prototypes and package samples for food and beverage markets. Shortly after that deal, PPC majority owner Morgan Stanley Capital Partners sold the firm to investment firm GTCR LLC of Chicago. PPC management will continue to own a minority stake.

Canadian auto components supplier Plasman Group bought an injection molding plant in Greer, S.C., from Chinese-owned Minghua USA. Later in the half, private equity firm MiddleGround Capital Group acquired Windsor, Ontario-based Plasman, which injection molds bumpers, fascia, grilles, exterior trim and subsystem components.

Two significant plastics machinery deals were made in the second half. In the first, Davis-Standard LLC was sold to New York-based PE firm Gamut Capital Management. The firm had been owned by PE firm Oncap, the middle-market PE platform of Onex Corp. of Toronto.

Pawcatuck, Conn.-based Davis-Standard supplies extrusion and converting systems and related aftermarket products and services for the elastomer, rigid and flexible packaging, and infrastructure end markets. The firm has an installed base of about $7.5 billion of equipment globally.

In the second machinery deal, Piovan SpA of Venice, Italy, bought Cranberry Township, Pa.-based IPEG Inc. to strengthen its position in the global auxiliary equipment market. IPEG's four brands are Conair, Thermal Care, Pelletron and Republic Machine. The seller was Sewickley Capital Inc. The deal calls for an initial payment of about $125 million and as much as $22 million to be paid as an earnout in 2024 if financial targets are met. The combined companies will have sales of more than $500 million and a workforce of more than 1,800 in 14 facilities worldwide.

The second half of 2021 also brought disclosures about the sales price for earlier plastics deals, including:

• $485 million spent by Silgan Holdings Inc. for injection molder Gateway Plastics Inc. and its 350,000-square-foot facility in Mequon, Wis. Gateway is expected to have about $150 million in sales this year.

"This acquisition further expands our comprehensive product offering in dispensing and specialty closures and provides further growth opportunities with many of our existing and shared customers," Silgan CEO Adam Greenlee said.

• $380 million paid by Pactiv Evergreen Inc. of Lake Forest, Ill., for Fabri-Kal Corp., a Kalamazoo, Mich.-based maker of foodservice products and thermoformed packaging, with 72 percent of its sales in food service, with the rest in consumer products. The firm has annual sales of $334 million and employs 1,000 at four U.S. sites. Pactiv Evergreen is largest thermoformer in North America, according to Plastics News data. Fabri-Kal is No. 11.

• $245 million was the price tag that Cornerstone Building Brands Inc. of Cary, N.C., saw when it bought Spokane Valley, Wash.-based vinyl window and door manufacturer Cascade Windows. Cascade operates six facilities that make single- and double- hung vinyl windows, sliders and patio doors for new construction and remodeling markets. Cornerstone is the No. 2 extruder of pipe, profiles and tubing in North America with sales of $2.29 billion, according to PN's latest ranking.

• $210 million was the price that plastic sheet and profile leader Plaskolite LLC paid for most of the assets of sheet maker Plazit-Polygal. The seller was Plazit Industries of Israel.

Columbus, Ohio-based Plaskolite bought Plazit-Polygal's global assets with the exception of those in Russia. Plazit-Polygal makes acrylic and polycarbonate solid sheets, as well as multiwall and corrugated sheets. Plaskolite now has made 18 acquisitions in the last 14 years. The firm is majority owned by Pritzker Private Capital. Based on sales, Plaskolite is North America's 12th-largest film and sheet maker in PN's ranking with annual sales of $670 million.

• $142.7 million was paid by private equity firm Riverside Co. of Cleveland for expanded polystyrene products maker PFB Corp. of Canada. The price represented a premium of 7 percent over PFB's Nov. 4 closing per-share price on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

• $126 million spent by PGT Innovations Inc., a publicly traded window and door maker in Venice, Fla., paid for Anlin Windows & Doors of Clovis, Calif. "This transaction is an excellent opportunity to diversify and expand our market presence across the growing West Coast region," PGT CEO Jeff Jackson said. Anlin is 90 percent focused on the vinyl remodel and replacement market.

• $98.4 million invested by Oaktree Capital Management for Cerebrus Capital Management's remaining stake in ABC Technologies Holdings Inc. of Toronto, one of North America's largest injection and blow molders.

"We believe the future of [ABC] is bright and see it as a beneficiary of the key trends of lightweighting and electrification in the automotive industry," Oaktree executive Brook Hinchman said. ABC is No. 14 in PN's ranking of North American injection molders, with an estimated $500 million in annual sales in the region, and No. 15 among blow molders with $425 million in sales.

• $56.5 million paid by SK Global Chemical Co. Ltd. of South Korea for a stake in Loop Industries Inc. to accelerate the growth of Loop's sustainable PET plastic and polyester fiber manufacturing technology. The investment amounts to a 10 percent stake in the company. It will be used by Montreal-based Loop to fund its planned Infinite Loop manufacturing facility in Bécancour, Quebec.

Several other plastics M&A deals caught the eye of market watchers in the second half of 2021.

Las Vegas-based injection molding and tooling firm Westfall Technik Inc., a frequent buyer, acquired injection molder Carolina Precision Plastics LLC. In total, CPP's three plants cover some 335,000 square feet of manufacturing space. Westfall made 14 acquisitions in 2017-19 and spent 2020 integrating those businesses.

PE firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice LLC bought two label suppliers and merged them into a business with annual sales of about $3 billion. The companies acquired were Cincinnati-based Multi-Color Corp. and Elk Grove, Ill.-based Fort Dearborn Co. New York-based CD&R said the combined business will be the "world's largest label solutions company."

Chicago-based packaging distributor and manufacturer Berlin Packaging LLC bought Markham, Ontario-based Cannasupplies, which specializes in packaging for the cannabis sector. Cannasupplies will operate as a division of Consolidated Bottle Corp., the Canadian packaging supplier Berlin Packaging acquired in 2020.

PE group MPE Partners of Cleveland acquired Waterfront Brands, a Minnesota-based maker of boat lifts, docks and accessories whose holdings include two rotational molding-based businesses. Waterfront owns Rotomold USA, a 24-employee molding operation in Claremore, Okla., and sells rotomolded docks under the PolyDock brand. Rotomold USA ranked No. 61 among rotational molders for sales in North America in PN's most recent ranking, with an estimated $7.5 million in sales.

In a major rotational molding deal, Myers Industries Inc. acquired Trilogy Plastics Inc. for an undisclosed price. Alliance, Ohio-based Trilogy is "a world-class custom rotational molder specializing in high-quality, high-tolerance parts and assemblies," officials with Akron, Ohio-based Myers said in a news release. Trilogy's predecessor companies date back more than 100 years. Stephen Osborn and Bruce Frank bought the company from creditors in 1987. The company has twice been featured in PN's Best Places to Work and was also a finalist for Processor of the Year in 2015 and 2016.

Plastics packaging maker Pretium Packaging LLC acquired Alpha Consolidated Holdings Inc. in a move that adds 10 locations to combine with Pretium's 19 locations. The combination will push Pretium into the top 10 blow molders in North America with estimated sales in that segment of the business at $700 million, according to the latest PN ranking. Separately, Pretium was last ranked 14th and Alpha was 18th. Alpha's products include PET and high density polyethylene bottles and jars for health and wellness and personal care.

In an all-Ontario move, plastics recycler EFS-Plastics Inc. acquired blow molder Exi-Plast Custom Moulding Ltd.

"Having worked closely with EFS as a supplier since 2016, it felt natural for Exi-Plast to join the EFS Group of Companies," Exi-Plast President Jeffrey Lang said. "With EFS' backing, we are looking forward to increasing our production capacity and upgrading equipment over the next several months."

Film and sheet maker Sigma Plastics Group, another frequent dealmaker, bought the institutional can liner business of JR Plastics Corp. in Ocala, Fla. JR officials said the move will let their firm focus on its plastic decking business. Sigma will move JR's can lining equipment to Pompano Beach, Fla.

Wichita, Kan.-based Airxcel Inc., a manufacturer of recreational vehicle products, has acquired Elkhart, Ind.-based Elkhart Composites Inc., a manufacturer of sustainable composite material for RV sidewalls. Airxcel and its parent company, Thor Industries Inc., plan to expand production capacity for the acquired company's Elkboard-brand sidewalls. Thor is the world's largest RV maker.

In a deal that made a lot of cents, Ultra PRO International LLC purchased Air-Tite Holders Inc. Air-Tite has a manufacturing facility in North Adams, Mass., that injection molds acrylic coin holders and converts, prints and assembles custom presentation boxes.

In a very sweet deal, West Babylon, N.Y.-based Micelli Chocolate Mold Co. acquired Edgewood, N.Y.-based Aztec Tool Co. Inc. to add in-house toolmaking and molding capabilities, and it also has plans to eventually relocate there. The strategic acquisition gives Micelli access to commercial and industrial toolmaking and injection molding capabilities to support its low-volume, highly custom chocolate and confections molding business.

And Bockenem, Germany-based Meteor Group saved the day by acquiring Ohio-based Creative Extruded Products LLC. The acquisition reversed a previous announcement that CEP was permanently closing because a planned sale fell through. Creative, which makes plastic and rubber moldings for the automotive glass market, now will add technology in several plastic materials to Meteor.

Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

Please enter a valid email address.

Please enter your email address.

Please verify captcha.

Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

View the discussion thread.