Private investment firm Graham Partners is pushing deeper into thermoformed packaging with the acquisition of Tray-Pak Corp.
The deal follows Graham Partners' move, just in November, to acquire EasyPack LLC.
Tray-Pak, based in Reading, Pa., has been owned since 2009 by Archbrook Capital Management LLC, which will remain an investor in the company.
“Tray-Pak distinguishes itself from other thermoformers through its high-quality custom products, in-house tooling and design capabilities, and unparalleled knowledge of customer needs,” said Adam Piatkowski, managing principal at Graham Partners, in a statement.
Scott Myers, CEO at Tray-Pak, said in a statement his company already has “identified several game changing opportunities” through its acquisition by Graham Partners.
Graham Partners, in the latest deal, said the move for Tray-Pak is part of the Newtown Square, Pa.-based firm's “investment thesis of building a top tier, mid-sized thermoformed packaging provider.”
The acquisition also brings prototyping through 3-D printing, a service that provides a quick turnaround for new product designs, Graham Partners said.
“Tray-Pak's sophisticated operating capabilities have resulted in longstanding relationships with blue-chip customers and the ability to serve attractive end markets, such as food, confectionery and medical,” Graham Partners said in a statement.
Products include trays, deli containers, clamshell packaging, blister packaging, lids and domes. The company uses a wide variety of resins, including post-consumer PET. The company, on its website, indicates the firm serves customers in the United States, Canada and Mexico thorough two production locations totaling more than 175,000 square feet.
Tray-Pak was founded by David Bestwick in 1975, when he and some partners acquired the thermoforming operations of W.R. Grace & Co. of Columbia, Md. The company started with 11 machines and 36 employees making cookie and candy trays.
Bestwick, who was named Thermoformer of the Year by the Society of Plastics Engineers thermoforming division in 2009, sold the company that year to TPC Partners LLC, an affiliate of Archbrook Capital. At the time, Tray-Pak had 250 employees and 44 thermoforming machines.