Several firms were frequent buyers in 2016

The plastics M&A market had a few repeat customers in the second half of 2016.

Blow molder Pretium Packaging LLC of Chesterfield, Mo., in August made its third deal in three years, buying Tri-Pack Enterprises Inc., which does business as Custom Blow Molding. Chesterfield, Mo.-based Pretium — which is owned by private equity firm Genstar Capital of San Francisco — plans to retain the CBM brand. CBM's Bill McNeal and Joe Abbott have joined Pretium's leadership team.

Escondido, Calif.-based CBM is a major rigid packaging supplier for the sports nutrition and supplement industries in North America. Previously with private equity backing, Pretium had acquired Tri-Delta Plastics of Hillsborough, N.J., in December 2014 and Intertech Corp. of Greensboro, N.C., in February 2015.

With an estimated $285 million in sales, Pretium ranked 15th in the 2015 Plastics News list of North American blow molders and was operating in 14 facilities. President and CEO Paul Kayser — who joined the firm in February — told Plastics News that Pretium is looking to make more acquisitions.

“We are not done buying at all,” Kayser said. “Inside Pretium, we have a team to focus on identifying targets, typically with only a few locations.” Kayser noted that Pretium has a broad portfolio of preform designs and a strong capability to provide innovative solutions to customers for specific applications.

Packaging firm Pregis LLC of Deerfield, Ill., made a pair of second-half deals, both in September. The firm first bought 3M Co.'s temporary protective films business. Officials said that acquisition is a chance to add a $50 million strategic operation. Pregis already was in the protective films business through its Surface Guard brand.

The deal includes about 90 workers who work in the business in Conover, N.C., as well as field-based workers, the companies said. The acquired business provides adhesive-backed temporary protective films for what is described as a “broad range of industries, including automotive, appliance, metalworking, building and construction.”

Pregis then acquired paper-based protective packaging maker Easypack Ltd. of Stevenage, England. Even though Easypack is focused on the paper market, Pregis officials said the acquisition is a way to also expand its sale of inflatable plastic packaging products in Europe. Easypack also has offices and distribution centers in France and Germany.

Sigma Group — a steady presence in plastics M&A — on Sept 30 announced that it was acquiring Alliance Barrier Films LLC of Washington, Ind., and would integrate Alliance into its ISOFlex Packaging Division.

Alliance “is a very strategic location with a lot of synergy with ISOFlex,” Sigma President Alfred Teo told Plastics News. “We had been looking at Ohio or Indiana for a new plant for three years until this fell into our lap.”

Alliance will continue manufacturing at Washington and the firm's founder and CEO Tom Huff will continue as managing partner. Teo said Alliance currently has 20 million pounds per year of specialty film production using EVOH and nylon layers for converter markets where hot-fill and barrier properties are required.

The Alliance deal is the 11th since 2009 for Pompano Beach, Fla.-based Sigma, but its first since acquiring Tara Plastics Corp. in May 2015. Sigma is North America's third largest plastic film and sheet maker, according to Plastics News, with annual sales estimated at $2.35 billion.