In this month's edition of the Target Report, ProAmpac targets the old-fashioned brown paper bag in one of the most aggressive roll-ups in the flexible packaging business, and both Ebony and The Village Voice rise from the dead.
Mark Hahn
Not only do movements in the book printing world hint at the need to keep up with demand, consolidation is also rolling along at a steady pace in the label business.
Clearly, consolidation of the printing industry will continue; some consolidators will succeed, and others, for reasons of misplaced strategy, or simply bad timing in a tumultuous market, will need to deconsolidate whether via a trip through bankruptcy court or divestitures.
The Target Report, August 2020: M&A activity in commercial printing dips, tuck-ins still predominate; packaging deals are driven by private equity; labels lead the pack; wide format transactions pick up; and more …
June was the first relatively active month for M&A deals since the COVID-19 induced shut-down began. The renewed transactional activity is a clear indication that packaging manufacturers expect demand for packaged products to continue apace or grow, and as a consequence, the appetite for their packaging expertise and capacity will tag right along and grow also. A perfect recipe for more deals in the future.
Graphic Village’s acquisition of DMS ink is part of a trend of consolidators building a network of locations within a distinct region.
As the industry converges and consolidates, so have many trade associations. This might be best exemplified by the recent merger of SGIA and PIA, which is reflective of the ongoing consolidation in the highly fragmented and diverse universe of companies that make up the industry.
The Target Report is usually a gestalt of the prior month’s transactional activity. However, given the seismic nature of the current crisis, the rear view mirror is less useful, so we’ll depart from our usual style this month, look backwards just a bit, and offer our view through the front windshield.
The Welch Packaging Group acquired PAX Corrugated Products from Georgia-Pacific amid a trend of the company making corrugated acquisitions. This supports the trend of regional companies leapfrogging to an adjacent metro market via a series of strategically sound acquisitions.
In what’s arguably the hottest segment in the printing related industries, flexible packaging, TC Transcontinental has announced the acquisition of Flexipak, a Montreal-based flexographic printer of bags and stand-up pouches.
