A U.S.-based private equity firm said June 3 that it bought plastic companies in Colombia and Peru as a way to tap into growth in the cosmetics and pharmaceutical markets there, and create one of the largest pan-Andean region plastic packaging firms.
ACON Investments LLC, based in Washington, said it purchased Intecplast S.A.S. in Bogota, Colombia, and Pieriplast S.A.C. in Lima, Peru, creating a new company, Amfora Packaging S.A.S., with 800 employees and factories in the two cities.
“The integration… forms the leading manufacturer of plastic packaging for cosmetics and personal care products in the Andean region,” said José Miguel Knoell, managing partner of ACON, in a statement.
“The company will be well positioned to enter new export markets and at the same time capitalize on a fragmented industry [regionally] with few competitors able to develop and produce quality products acceptable to multinational customers,” he said.
ACON declined additional comment. Terms were not disclosed.
Intecplast CEO Jose Alejandro Arango will become Amfora's CEO and Renato Pierinelli, founder and former CEO of Pieriplast, will have an equity stake in Amfora and will become both the chief technical officer and chairman of the new company.
Intecplast said it injection and blow molds packaging for multinational and Colombian customers, and exports to 13 countries regionally. Pieriplast said it focuses on high-end packaging in cosmetics for Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Brazil.
ACON is a private equity investment firm focusing on the United States and Latin America. Founded in 1996, it said manages $3.6 billion in investments regionally, with an interest in medium-sized businesses across a range of industries, including retail and light manufacturing.
Last year the company bought cooler maker Igloo Products Corp. of Katy, Texas, and in January it announced that Igloo purchased bottle maker Cool Gear International LLC.