Private equity investor Advent International has signed an agreement to acquire Danish food packaging company Faerch Plast A/S from private equity fund EQT VI.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Advent said in a June 2 statement that it would bring “significant operational resources, capital and sector expertise” to Faerch Plast to help it expand its international footprint organically and through add-on acquisitions.
A particular area of focus, said Advent, will be the expansion into France, Spain and Germany within the fragmented packaging sector.
There, the company will seek to support food retailers “who are keen to achieve differentiation through new and innovative packaging solutions.”
The acquisition follows Advent's taking over of Fort Dearborn Co. of Elk Grove, Ill., a leading supplier of shrink sleeve film labels for blue chip and middle-market consumer packaged goods companies in the U.S. When Advent purchased Fort Dearborn in August 2016, the company said it was the third largest label maker in North America.
Fort Dearborn has about 1,600 employees and 15 manufacturing sites in the U.S. and Canada.
“Short shelf life food packaging is an attractive segment of the market with strong long-term prospects. As convenience becomes increasingly important in all areas of everyday life, the demand for ready meals and ‘food to go' will continuously gain momentum,” explained Ranjan Sen, managing partner at Advent International.
Faerch Plast, he added, is “well positioned to benefit from these trends and to continue to serve its customer across Europe.”
Faerch Plast is a rigid plastic packaging for the food industry with over 40 years of experience in developing, designing and producing packaging for the ready meal, “food-to-go” and fresh meat markets.
Headquartered in Holstebro, Denmark, the company employs more than 1,000 employees, across six factories in Denmark, the United Kingdom, Spain and the Czech Republic.
Faerch Plast has recently established an ambitious growth strategy, which saw it acquiring Anson Packaging Ltd in the U.K. and Sealed Airs Food Tray Business in Europe in 2015, with factories in the U.K. and Spain.