LAKE FOREST, ILL. (Aug. 2, 3:15 p.m. ET) — Packaging converter Prolamina Corp. will acquire some assets and a book of business from Packaging Dynamics Corp. of Kaukauna, Wis. Terms were not disclosed.
The deal is expected to close in the third quarter, according to an Aug. 2 news release from Lake Forest-based Prolamina.
The acquisition includes Packaging Dynamics' extrusion laminating, 10-color printing and converting business in Kaukauna. The equipment will be moved into Prolamina's new, 250,000-square-foot packaging plant in Neenah, Wis.
“We are a specialist at this type of manufacturing and we will become even better. Likewise, Packaging Dynamics, through its Thilmany Papers business unit, is an expert at paper making and we are entering into a supply agreement for a great source of quality papers,” Harold Bevis, Prolamina's chairman and CEO, said in the release.
Prolamina will now become one of Packaging Dynamics' largest customers, he said. Some members of Packaging Dynamics management also will join Prolamina, according to the release.
“As a result of these changes, we will now have a great footprint in the Midwest for high-end flexible packaging production,” Bevis said. (Listen as Bevis outlines in this audio clip what he believes are packaging's biggest challenges.)
In addition to the new equipment, Prolamina has ordered a wide-format, solvent-based press from F&K with GPS electronics for quick changeovers for the Neenah plant. It is expected to be delivered in January. According to the release, the company has completed installation of its Black Clawson extrusion laminator at the site.
The Neenah facility is to begin production Aug. 18. Company officials have said the facility will back up Prolamina plants in Westfield, Mass., and greater Montreal, manufacturing packaging for tobacco products, cheese, produce, snack foods, non-fluid-contact medical products, pet food and pouches.
Prolamina recently modified equipment at the former Jen-Coat plant in Westfield to make tobacco packaging. Prolamina's plant in Terrebonne, Quebec — formerly Excel Pac — recently received a superior rating from AIB International, according to the release.
Prolamina's manufacturing footprint includes three plants, 12 laminators, 13 printing presses, two graphic-design centers, in-house metalization, and converting equipment including laser scoring and perforating, and pre-formed pouch making, Chief Operating Officer Tim French said in the release.
Companies owned by Prolamina recently received several awards from the Toronto-based Packaging Association of Canada, including a Best in Show award for a spouted stand-up pouch for Yoplait yogurt that Excel Pac developed for Aliments Ultima Inc. of Longueuil, Quebec.
Bevis formed Prolamina, originally called Packaging Solutions Holdings Inc., in his Illinois home a week after Berry Plastics Corp. of Evansville, Ind., bought Pliant out of bankruptcy in December 2009.
The company partnered in the summer of 2010 with private equity firm Wellspring Capital Management LLC of New York, acquiring extrusion laminator and printer Jen-Coat of Westfield in August 2010 and Montreal-based adhesive laminator, pouch maker and printer Excel Pac in March 2011.
