ProAmpac is acquiring fellow flexible packaging maker Gelpac Inc. in a deal that includes six production facilities in Canada and the United States.
Cincinnati-based ProAmpac, owned by Pritzker Private Capital and other investors, has a definitive agreement to purchase Gelpac, a maker of both polyethylene packaging and multiwall paper bags, from investment firms Namakor Holdings, Groupe W Investissements and CDPQ.
"Gelpac is a complementary addition to ProAmpac's growing platform across Canada and the United States," said Kaitlyn Desai, principal at Pritzker Private Capital, in a statement. "Both businesses have built strong reputations as customer-focused innovators in sustainable, flexible packaging solutions."
Gelpac's plastic product line includes bags, sheeting and tubing. Resins used include linear low density polyethylene, low density polyethylene, high density polyethylene and HDPE containing post-consumer resin.
The company dates to 1956 and it opened a polyethylene manufacturing plant in 1990, according to Gelpac's website. The company acquired other PE plants in Brampton, Ontario, in 2018, and Haverhill, Mass., in 2019.
Gelpac will maintain an operational presence and head office in Marieville, Quebec, near Montreal, after the deal closes.
ProAmpac operates 46 locations around the world and has nearly 6,000 employees. The company has more than 5,000 customers in 90 countries.
"ProAmpac is the ideal partner for Gelpac's continued growth and innovation," Gelpac CEO Alain Robillard said in a statement. "ProAmpac's platform and capabilities will provide significant benefit to our customers and key partners."
The transaction is expected to close in "the coming weeks," ProAmpac said.
"Gelpac shares ProAmpac's commitment to serve customers across the U.S. and Canada with high-performance, sustainability-focused flexible packaging solutions," ProAmpac CEO Greg Tucker said in a statement.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"Since becoming a shareholder in 2017, CDPQ has generated value and growth within Gelpac through a series of acquisitions, primarily in the United States," Kim Thomassin, executive vice president at CDPQ, in a statement. "Today, following a rigorous and exhaustive process that keeps the head office, facilities and jobs in Quebec, the company will be able to continue developing alongside a partner that is already firmly established here, which will foster its expansion."