Südpack Verpackungen GmbH of Germany is acquiring Seville Flexpack Corp., a move that provides the flexible packaging maker its first manufacturing operations in the United States.
Seville, of Oak Creek, Wis., put itself up for sale earlier this year following years of infighting between the heirs of Seville's founder, Walter J. Yakich, following his death in June 2014.
“We'd been looking for a suitable candidate for our U.S. business for quite some time,” said Johannes Remmele, managing partner at Südpack, in a statement. “The site is ideal in a number of ways: the facilities offer modern equipment for flexographic and rotogravure printing, sufficient storage capacity, and most importantly: highly experienced workers.”
Südpack is based in Ochsenhausen, Germany, and previously only had a sales office in the United States in the Chicago area, the company said. The company also has 35 sales offices and production facilities in Germany, France, Poland and Switzerland.
TKO Miller LLC, a Milwaukee-based investment bank, advised Seville on the sale.
“We saw a lot of parties interested in Seville, but Südpack was a buyer that had a very good understanding of Seville's business model, its manufacturing processes, and customer based as well as a desire to grow the business in Wisconsin,” said Joe Froehlich, managing director of TKO Miller, in a statement.
Seville became part of Südpack on Oct 1, and terms of the deal were not disclosed. The company has two manufacturing sites near its Oak Creek headquarters.
Südpack's Remmele pointed to Seville's location “in the heart of the U.S. meat and cheese industry — to key customer segments for our packaging solutions. Taken together, it is the perfect fit for or corporate group.”
Südpack, using Seville's facility, “expects to provide products to its U.S.-based customers more quickly and with more flexibility,” the company said in a statement. Südpack declined comment beyond a statement announcing the purchase.
“This is Südpack's first acquisition in the United States, and the company believes that it will set the groundwork for further expanding its U.S. presence,” the company said in the statement.
The sale comes about eight months after children of Yakich agreed to sell the converter and hired TKO Miller to handle the transaction.
At the time, interim CEO Laxson Boyd said the goal was to find a strategic buyer, one that was already in the industry, to help maximize the value of the firm. At the time, he pointed to the company's loyal customer base, employees and unused capacity as attractions for potential buyers.
