Greif Inc. is adding to the company's blow molded container manufacturing footprint with the acquisition of Reliance Products Ltd., a single-site operation in Canada.
Reliance makes barrier and conventional blow molded jerrycans and other containers for the agricultural, chemical and consumer water markets.
The deal follows the December acquisition of Lee Container of Homerville, Ga., which included three manufacturing sites. Lee, like Reliance, makes barrier and conventional blow molded containers. At the time of that $300 million deal, Greif indicated a desire to increase sales of that business both through internal growth and acquisition.
Bodtker Group of Cos. Ltd. of Calgary owned Reliance for a decade after acquiring the operation from a group of five investors in 2013.
Reliance uses in-mold fluorination — the introduction of fluorine gas — to create a barrier for high density polyethylene containers serving the crop protection and industrial chemicals markets.
"The acquisition of Reliance is a compelling bolt-on to our recently acquired Lee Container business and adds geographic breadth and an exciting new barrier technology to our jerrycan and small plastic container offering," Greif CEO Ole Rosgaard said in a statement.
"Reliance has built a strong business serving the Canadian market under the guidance of the Bodtker Group, and we intend to build on their technical expertise to unlock even more potential and growth," he said.
Along with manufacturing fluorinated containers, Reliance is known for making larger format water containers aimed at outdoors market with sizes up to 32 gallons as well as portable showers and portable toilets.
Greif did not reveal a purchase price but indicated the all-cash transaction "reflects approximately 6.75x proforma adjusted EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization]." The deal was financed through the company's line of credit.
The Reliance site joins Lee Container locations in Homerville; Centerville, Iowa; and Nacogdoches, Texas.
Reliance was listed No. 47 in the most recent Plastics News ranking of blow molders in North America, with estimated annual sales of $35 million. Greif is a multinational packaging company with operations that use plastic, metal and paper. Plastic manufacturing includes drums, containers, closures and intermediate bulk containers (IBCs). The company's blow molding operations in North America ranked as No. 23 with an estimated $120 million in annual sales.
In other news, in April Greif increased ownership of Centurion Container LLC, which makes IBCs and reconditions plastic drums, from 9 to 80 percent in a $145 million deal. IBCs are large format containers, commonly plastic with metal cages for support, to transport large volumes of liquid or granulated dry products. Greif first invested in Centurion in 2020.