Solo Cup Co. has purchased takeout container maker InnoWare Plastic Inc. for $24 million.
Robert Korzenski, president and CEO of Lake Forest-based Solo Cup, said the acquisition will contribute positively to the company's earnings this year, and will enhance Solo's line of takeout offerings.
“This transaction also represents an important milestone for Solo. Our work in recent years to right-size and refinance our company has successfully repositioned Solo Cup for growth. We leveraged that position today with the addition of this important product line to Solo's portfolio,” he said in a March 31 news release.
Solo is buying InnoWare Plastic from InnoWare LLC, a maker of disposable food-service products owned by Minneapolis-based Norwest Equity Partners. In an April 1 e-mail, Angie Chaplin Gorman, Solo's communications director, said Solo did not buy InnoWare's paper products unit.
The plastics unit comprises the plant in Thomaston, Ga., and an office in Alpharetta, Ga. “Although we will not retain the InnoWare Plastic name after a certain time, the combined companies will continue to offer the OctaView and Expressions product lines currently made by InnoWare Plastic,” Gorman said.
Solo will now add takeout products in polystyrene, PET and polypropylene to its paper products, she said: “In addition, their products made from compostable [polylactic acid] will enhance our Bare by Solo line of environmentally focused products, which already includes [recycled] PET and compostable sugar-cane containers.
“Clearly, their capabilities across a number of resin types are a good fit with ours. Takeout is a growing category for food-service operators and a product line our customers are asking for,” she said.
In recent Securities and Exchange Commission filings, Solo Cup reported a 2009 loss of $35.7 million on sales of $1.5 billion.
The firm ranked No. 2 in Plastics News' most recent survey of North American thermoformers, with estimated thermoforming-related sales of $740 million for 2009. InnoWare ranked No. 34, with $53 million in 2009 sales.
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