Converter of Customized Paperboard Products Expected To Further Enhance PaperWorks’ Menu of Packaging Offerings
BOCA RATON, FL Sun Capital Partners today announced that an affiliate has acquired Manchester Industries, one of the largest independently owned paper and paperboard converters in North America. It is anticipated that Manchester Industries will merge with PaperWorks Industries, a leading integrated, full–service packaging provider. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Manchester Industries provides its customers with value–added paperboard products, including Solid Bleached Sulfate, recycled board and a variety of specialty grades, by converting paperboard rolls into sheets that fit specifications for their customers’ sheet–fed folding carton assets. The Company’s customers include merchant distributors, packaging companies and contract converting businesses serving the food and beverage, pharmaceutical, and health and beauticare industries. Manchester Industries operates five facilities, including in Richmond, Virginia, where the company is headquartered; Dallas, Texas; Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania; Hagerstown, Indiana; and Mendon, Michigan.
The acquisition is another step in the successful growth plan by PaperWorks, which was formed through the purchase of two paper mills in September 2008. In July 2009, PaperWorks merged with The Specialized Packaging Group, a company focused on producing high–end, graphically complex paperboard packaging, forming the third–largest integrated coated–recycled board business in the U.S. PaperWorks’ products are used by global clients in the frozen food, beverage, household goods and oral care industries.
“Manchester Industries is a well–run business with long–standing, established customer relationships,” said Brian McGee, Vice–President at Sun Capital Partners. “Adding Manchester’s product suite and core competencies to PaperWorks’ existing business will extend the Company’s capabilities and product offerings as a fully integrated packaging provider. The company will continue to look for add–on acquisitions such as Manchester Industries that bring additional value to PaperWorks and its customers.”
“Manchester Industries’ converting capacity will be a great asset to PaperWorks’ core capabilities in paperboard manufacturing,” said PaperWorks Industries’ Chief Executive Officer Thomas J. Garland. “Manchester offers over a dozen paperboard grades, and a range of services that start at custom sheeting and cutting and extend to almost every dimension of conversion. This acquisition adds an entire range of expertise to our Paperboard Group.”
“Manchester was founded over three decades ago with the guiding principle of providing value to customers through both our products and our service,” said Ken Aspinall, President of Manchester Industries. “PaperWorks has the financial strength and resources that will allow Manchester continued growth and ensure long term viability for our customers, suppliers and employees.”
Sun Capital has experience in the paper and packaging industry; the firm’s affiliated portfolio company investments include Albéa, a global supplier of tube, fragrance and cosmetic plastic packaging to the beauty industry; ExoPack Holding, a North American flexible packaging converter and provider of paper and plastic packaging solutions; InteliCoat Technologies, a leading global supplier of precision coated paper, specialty substrates and imaging products; Reuther Verpackung GmbH & Co. KG, a full–service packaging provider; and VeriPlast Solutions, a manufacturer of a large range of packaging products.
About Sun Capital Partners, Inc.
Sun Capital Partners, Inc. is a leading private investment firm focused on leveraged buyouts, equity, debt, and other investments in companies that can benefit from its in–house operating professionals and experience. Sun Capital affiliates have invested in more than 250 companies worldwide with combined sales in excess of $40 billion since Sun Capital’s inception in 1995. Sun Capital has offices in Boca Raton, Los Angeles, and New York, as well as affiliates with offices in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Shanghai and Shenzhen. For more information, please visit www.SunCapPart.com.
About PaperWorks Industries, Inc.
PaperWorks Industries, Inc. is a leading North American integrated full–service packaging provider. The company’s Packaging Division is considered a leading innovator in the production of specialized folding cartons, with facilities in the U.S. and Canada. Its Paperboard Division manufactures approximately 300,000 tons of 100% recycled paperboard every year for a variety of end uses largely concentrated in consumer products. Founded in 2008, PaperWorks Industries is headquartered in Philadelphia, PA with over 1000 employees across 9 North American locations and annual sales in excess of US$325 million.
About Manchester Industries
Founded in 1978 in Richmond, Virginia, Manchester Industries is one of the leading converting facilities in the U.S. With an extensive product offering from vendors on a global scale, accompanied with state of the art sheeters, rewinders and carton packing lines in each location, Manchester Industries is a true asset to both the merchant and folding carton communities. The Company focuses on quick–turn, custom–size orders serving an end market mix that includes food and beverage, pharmaceutical, and health and beauty care. For more information, please visit www.manchester-industries.com.
For more information contact:
Katrin C. Lieberwirth
Stanton Public Relations & Marketing
646–502–3548
klieberwirth@StantonPRM.com
