EVANSVILLE, IND. (Aug 31, 4:10 p.m. ET) — Berry Plastics Corp. has acquired 100 percent of the common stock of Linpac Packaging Filmco Inc. (Filmco) from Linpac USA Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of Birmingham, England-based Linpac Group Ltd.
According to an Aug. 31 news release, Evansville-Ind.-based Berry paid about $19 million for Aurora, Ohio-based Filmco. Berry expects the acquisition to be immediately deleveraging.
Filmco is a manufacturer of PVC stretch film for fresh meat, produce, freezer and specialty packaging. It employs 100 in Aurora and had 2010 sales of $34 million, according to the release.
“Filmco's portfolio of premium performance films complements Berry's product offerings to the North American case-ready and in-store packaging markets,” Dave Corey, president of Berry's specialty films division, said in the release.
Roland Castellanos, Filmco's general manager and Linpac Packaging's vice president for Spain, France and China operations, said the purchase of the Filmco business marks an important milestone.
“Berry will focus on our segment and invest around the strong technologies of the business while providing our great employees with opportunity for professional growth.
“Berry, in turn, will gain a dedicated and professional team that has demonstrated its ability to generate value for all the business' stakeholders,” he said.
Linpac Group earlier this year sold five non-core business units — Linpac Environmental, Linpac Recycling, Linpac Storage Systems, Linpac Metal Decorating and Intellident, which makes RFID and barcode technology — to funds managed by Chamonix Private Equity.
The five units sold made up 6 percent of Linpac's total business.
