Inno-Pak LLC, a food packaging maker, is being sold by one investment firm to another.
Inno-Pak makes a wide variety of both plastic and paper packaging, including compostable offerings, for the prepared and takeout foods segments.
Those Delaware, Ohio-based operations are now moving to Wynnchurch Capital after five years of ownership by Emerald Lake Capital Management. Wynnchurch is making the deal through that company's Handgards business, which was acquired in April 2024.
"Inno-Pak represents an opportunity to grow in key food service end markets, including grocery and convenience stores, and allows the platform to further capitalize on positive trends around substrate flexibility, consumer convenience, health and hygiene, and on-the-go consumption," said Greg Gleason, managing partner of Rosemont, Ill.-based Wynnchurch, in a statement.
Joe Kubicek is CEO of Handgards and he called it a "transformational add-on" in a statement.
"Over the past five years, Inno-Pak has experienced tremendous growth across our product portfolio, manufacturing footprint and team capabilities," Inno-Pak CEO Chris Sanzone said in a statement. "We are grateful for our partnership with the Emerald Lake team, who share our growth ambitions, culture of innovation and focus on remaining adaptable to meet the needs of our customers. We look forward to a productive partnership with Handgards, which has a proven track record in our industry which will help us to unlock our next chapter of growth."
Inno-Pak built both new manufacturing and distribution space during Emerald Lake's ownership, which started in 2020. The company also reported "more than doubling its patent portfolio" during that time.
"The company opened its first scaled domestic production facility in 2023, a greenfield plant in Ohio, which included an expansion of its primary distribution center, and in 2022 opened in Nevada an additional distribution center to add capacity and support for West Coast customers," Santa Monica, Calif.-based Emerald Lake said in announcing the sale.
"Inno-Pak also completed three strategic acquisitions to expand its product offerings, geographic presence and manufacturing capacity," the company said. Those deals included Stalk Market in 2022 and Finishing Services Inc. and Albany Packaging in 2023.
Inno-Pak has been able to grow and meet an increased demand for eco-friendly packaging during a time when customers gravitate more toward prepared foods, Emerald Lake Managing Partner Dan Lukas said in a statement announcing the deal. That includes foods from supermarkets and app-based delivery services.
Inno-Pak was founded in 1992 and has more than 100 patented packaging products "across multiple substrates, supported by robust manufacturing capabilities — which include sheeting/printing, die cutting, windowing, gluing and forming — and design services," the company said.
Handgards, based in El Paso, Texas., is described as a distributor of food service products, including disposable gloves, reclosable bags, tabletop items, expendables and other carryout products. The company also makes a wide variety of films using polyethylene and nylon resins, according to its website.
Inno-Pak, meanwhile, said it "focuses almost exclusively on packaging that is recyclable, reusable, compostable or a combination of all three categories."
"In line with our original investment thesis, the acquisition of Inno-Pak adds differentiated converting and sourcing capabilities while further diversifying the consolidated platform into attractive end markets," said Carl Howe, managing director at Wynnchurch, in a statement.
Wynnchurch also owns Alleguard, a maker of plastic foam products. The investment firm created Alleguard after acquiring and uniting a handful of foam producers earlier this decade in separate deals. Alleguard uses expanded polystyrene, expanded polypropylene and the Arcel brand of expanded foam, which is a combination of EPS and expanded polyethylene, to make new products.