Business Management - M&A

ProAmpac announced that it has acquired Rapid Action Packaging, a manufacturer of cellulose-based packaging products for fresh prepared and ready-to-eat foods.

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.

Avery Dennison announced that it has acquired the business of Ohio-based ACPO Ltd. for the purchase price of $87.6 million. ACPO is a leader in pressure-sensitive overlaminate products for the label and flexible packaging markets and has approximately 170 employees.

AWT is a leading provider of labels and flexible packaging solutions focused on health care, personal care, food & beverage, household, and OEM/Industrial end markets. Investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Capital Partners completed an investment in AWT from Mason Wells, a Midwest-based private equity firm.

ABX has announced its acquisition of the U.S. flexible packaging converter business of Berry Global Group, Inc. ABX is a manufacturer of co-extruded printed and laminated multi-layer high barrier, flexible packaging films primarily for food applications.

Resource Label Group has acquired Seattle-based Labels West, broadening its presence in the Pacific Northwest. Labels West represents the seventeenth acquisition for Resource Label Group. This will be its second location in Washington state.

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.

Fortis Solutions Group has acquired Kala Packaging to expand its offerings of pressure-sensitive labels and flexible packaging. Kala Packaging specializes in variable content printing, anti-counterfeit and security solutions, and food safe flexible packaging.

For sellers, managing risk is a five-step process that’s really no different from the exit planning strategy we recommend to clients in normal circumstances. But, until COVID-19 starts to recede and market conditions improve, sellers should carry out specific steps with special urgency and care.

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.