Plastics packaging maker Pretium Packaging LLC, which has made a habit of growing through acquisitions over the years, is now buying Alpha Consolidated Holdings Inc. in a move that adds 10 locations.
The deal, revealed Sept. 16, will bolster Pretium from one of the bigger players in blow molding in North America to one of the region's biggest players.
Bottle and jar maker Alpha has 10 manufacturing sites, including two in Europe, that now will combine with Pretium's 19 locations.
The combination will push Pretium into the top 10 blow molders in North America with estimated sales in that segment of the business at $700 million, according to the latest Plastics News ranking. Separately, Pretium was last ranked 14th and Alpha was 18th.
"Pretium's acquisition of Alpha represents a combination of two likeminded players in rigid packaging with a focus on sustainability initiatives. Our customers will benefit from the combined scale and investments made in such initiatives as automation, manufacturing optimization and sustainability," Alpha CEO Terry Moody said in a statement.
Alpha's products include PET and high density polyethylene packers, bottles and jars for the health and wellness and personal care segments. The company has more than 1,000 customers and 10 sites, including two in Europe. Pretium makes products using PET, HDPE and polypropylene.
Pretium, itself, switched owners just last year as Genstar Capital sold the St. Louis-based company to Clearlake Capital Group along with management.
"Alpha and Pretium are a natural fit given both companies' complementary product portfolios, process technologies and footprints," Pretium CEO Paul Kayser said in a statement.
He said combining operations "will enhance our ability to capitalize on trends such has e-commerce growth and the increasing need for post-consumer recyclable solutions."
Pretium, under Kayser's leadership since 2016, has never been shy about pushing a growth strategy. And this latest deal sets the stage for even more expansion, the CEO said.
"By bringing together Pretium and Alpha's people, assets and footprint, our combined platform will be able to better serve customers through enhanced solutions and production capabilities, which will help accelerate the combined company's growth," Kayser said.
Alpha's manufacturing network includes locations in the United States, Canada, Ireland and the Netherlands.
The company's Etten-Leur, Netherlands, location was acquired in 2017 and the company later folded production from an existing plant in Roosendaal, Netherlands, into that location.
Earlier this year, Alpha acquired Boxmore Plastics Ltd. of Ballyconnell, Ireland.
The acquired company dates to 1969 and has its own history of growth both internally and through dealmaking.
"Any conversation about Alpha's history would not be complete without a discussion of sustainable packaging. For more than 15 years, Alpha has worked with customers to use more sustainable materials such as post-consumer resins and bioresins," the company said in its website. "We also embark on source reduction initiatives and have lightweighted our bottles and jars by as much as 28 percent for some projects."
Alpha has 950 employees, just over 1,000 stock molds and does more than 20,000 changeovers each year, according to the company's website.