Packaging giant ProAmpac continues to find investment opportunities in the United Kingdom.
Cincinnati-based ProAmpac said March 22 that it had acquired IG Industries plc and Brayford Plastics Ltd., two U.K.-based packaging firms.
In January, ProAmpac had bought Rapid Action Packaging Ltd. (RAP), a Wimbledon, England-based maker of cellulose-based food packaging products for prepared foods sold at retail.
Terms of the latest transactions were not disclosed. ProAmpac officials said in a news release that both IG and Brayford make a broad portfolio of recyclable packaging products.
Both firms are leading suppliers of flexible packaging for bakery, meat, fish, poultry and fresh produce markets across the U.K. and Western Europe, they added.
The acquisitions expand ProAmpac's manufacturing capabilities for plastic film, resealable bags and premade pouches, officials said. They added that the deals "extend [ProAmpac's] industry-leading commitment to provide customers with a broad offering of recyclable packaging products."
"With their production of high-quality films, excellent quality standards and research and development innovations, IG and Brayford will help ProAmpac deliver even greater value and a vertically integrated experience to our growing customer base," ProAmpac founder and CEO Greg Tucker said in the release.
IG managing director Ahmad Lari said that his firm has been a family business of 32 years and that "it was extremely important for us to find a partner with very similar values and philosophy." Brayford Managing Director John Lyon said that the deal "will allow Brayford to further deepen our existing customer relationships and expand our reach."
IG is located on a 36-acre site in Brigg, England. The firm has warehousing space for 5,600 pallets. Brayford is based in Dunholm, England, and was founded in 1969 when a group of local businessmen decided to make bags for locally-grown produce. After the transaction, IG and Brayford will adopt the ProAmpac brand and will maintain operations at their manufacturing facilities in the U.K.
The additions of IG and Brayford give ProAmpac a total of 38 global manufacturing sites, with almost 4,900 employees serving more than 5,000 customers in 90 countries. ProAmpac innovates, engineers and manufactures flexible and sustainable packaging and material science solutions for various consumer, health care, e-commerce, retail and industrial goods markets.
ProAmpac is owned by Pritzker Private Capital of Chicago along with management and other co-investors. Pritzker investment partner Chris Trick said that IG and Bradford "are highly complementary additions to ProAmpac and the Pritzker Private Capital families."
ProAmpac ranked as North America's ninth-largest film and sheet maker, with plastics-related sales in the region of just under $1 billion in 2019, according to Plastics News data. The firm makes flexible and sustainable packaging for a wide variety of applications.
In addition to ProAmpac, PPC's other holdings include major plastics firms Plaskolite LLC of Columbus, Ohio, and Technimark LLC of Asheboro, N.C. Plaskolite is a leading sheet producer, while Technimark is a major player in injection molding. PPC also owns a stake in Vertellus, an Indianapolis-based firm whose plastic-related products include copolymer additives and bioplasticisers.