A company owned by private equity firm Graham Partners is acquiring Canyon Plastics Inc., an injection and blow molder.
Valencia, Calif.-based Canyon uses both high density polyethylene and PET to make packaging and engineered products for the medical device, aerospace and defense industries. The company uses blow molding, stretch blow molding and injection molding techniques.
Canyon, which has been in business for more than 20 years, was advised by FocalPoint Partners LLC, an investment bank, during the sale.
Graham portfolio company VPET USA LLC of Fontana, Calif., made the purchase. VPET makes plastic containers for the food and beverage market.
"Canyon takes pride in delivering a comprehensive suite of HDPE and PET solutions to customers across a wide range of end markets. We look forward to working closely with Graham and the VPET team to continue to build valued customer relationships and execute upon near-term expansion initiatives," Canyon CEO Kirit Gajera said in a statement.
VPET is seeing growth thanks to market trends including "brand proliferation in the food and beverage industry, growth in the direct-to-consumer and e-commerce channels and the continued conversion to PET plastic for wide-mouth packaging," FocalPoint said in a statement.
"Canyon's comprehensive mix of products and custom capabilities allows it to meet a diverse range of needs across multiple high-value end markets," FocalPoint added.
Graham Partners is an investment firm that grew out of the holdings of plastics industry giant Donald Graham. The Newtown Square, Pa.-company, founded by son Steven Graham in 1988, has raised some $3.5 billion over the years from a variety of sources, including individuals, school endowments, foundations, pension plans, and institutional investors.
Donald Graham, who started in the industry in 1960 by creating a design engineering firm, remains a senior advisor to Graham Partners.
Donald Graham also founded Graham Packaging Co., the Lancaster, Pa.-based firm that capitalized on transition from composite paperboard cans to plastic bottles to grow into a major packaging company using both blow molding and injection molding. Graham Engineering Corp. of York, Pa., is a third namesake firm that also traces itself to Donald Graham's lineage.
VPET's acquisition of Canyon Plastics is just one in several moves highlighted by Graham Partners in a Jan. 24 announcement. The deal was completed in early December, the investment firm said. VPET, itself, was purchased by Graham Partners in 2019.
"Canyon's attractiveness is underpinned by differentiated design capabilities, premium product offerings, reliable lead times, and proprietary innovation in materials science, and is well-aligned with Graham's original investment thesis in VPET," the investment firm said in a statement.
Canyon was founded in 1969 and includes more than 160,000 square feet under its roof and more than 35 production lines, according to the firm's website. The space includes a manufacturing and administration building with more than 110,000 square feet and a second warehouse location.
"We believe the business is highly complementary to the existing VPET platform, increasing the overall scale of the business and further diversifying VPET's product offering, customers and end markets," the firm said.
The Canyon deal was one of several moves in 2021, the investment company said, including "six exits, three platform investments, three add-on acquisitions and two growth investments."
An email seeking additional comment from Graham Partners was not immediately returned.
Last year, Steve Graham said in a statement, "was a very productive year for us. In particular, our proprietary sourcing efforts, on both the platform and add-on acquisition front, are yielding attractive opportunities for us to partner with high-growth, founder-owned businesses."
Canyon Plastics is located about 80 miles from VPET in Southern California, both near Los Angeles.