Specialty film and bag manufacturer M&Q Packaging Corp has purchased a converter operation based in Neenah, Wis.
M&Q spent an undisclosed sum to buy Outlook Group Corp., a diverse converter specializing in data-driven print technologies for labels, folding cartons and flexible packaging.
“It's part of our vertical integration strategy,” said M&Q President and CEO Michael Schmal in a phone interview. He said his firm is interested in further acquisitions.
The deal was announced in early November by Chicago-based Mesirow Financial, which acted as adviser to Outlook Group.
M&Q extrudes nylon, PET, polyethylene and polypropylene at its sole plant in Schuylkill Haven, Pa., Its sales last year were about $30 million, according to Plastics News data. It employs about 115.
M&Q and Outlook Group will continue operating with existing management and facilities, Schmal said. Outlook Group's customer base in food and beverage, consumer products, medical goods and retail overlap with M&Q's diverse customer base, which also includes barrier packaging, aerospace, transportation, industrial and electronics companies.
Outlook also offers value-added services like contract manufacturing and packaging, assembly and distribution. Its printing options span offset, variable, digital and flexographic technologies.
“The new, larger platform will bring customers a comprehensive suite of packaging solutions supported by world-class engineering,” Schmal said. “Together, we will leverage our combined strengths by offering turn-key, more comprehensive, packaging solutions to support our customers' growth.”
M&Q's high-end products include meat packaging, nylon clean room films, solvent-recovery bags, high-temperature vacuum bagging films, sterilizable nylon medical films and elastomer-based films with U.S. Food and Drug Administration compliance. Founded in 1956, M&Q's in-house capabilities include bag making, printing and slitting.
Outlook Group Corp., renamed Outlook Group LLC, was owned by Milestone Partners and Hancock Capital Management. Private equity firm Capital Partners Inc. bought M&Q at the end of 2015 from a group of about 30 investors. Capital Partners of Norwalk, Conn., also owns Breen Color Concentrates LLC, a Lambertville, N.J., materials supplier to the plastics industry.