Hilex Poly, a manufacturer and recycler of plastic retail carry out bags and film products and a portfolio company of Wind Point Partners, has acquired portions of the North American Flexible Packaging division of the Clondalkin Group. The businesses that Hilex Poly has acquired are Fortune Plastics, Accutech Plastics and Direct Plastics Limited.
Fortune Plastics extrudes and converts plastic flexible packaging products, including can liners and bags, used in foodservice and industrial applications. The company has four production facilities in Connecticut, Tennessee, Florida and Arizona. Fortune Plastics was founded in 1955 and is based in Lebanon, TN (www.fortuneplastics.com).
Accutech manufactures polyethylene film products used in food, beverage, automotive, agricultural, advertising, medical and industrial applications. The company was founded in 1997 and is based in Coldwater, OH (www.accutechfilms.com).
Direct Plastics is a flexible packaging convertor specializing in pre-press graphic design, flexographic printing, laminating, slitting and bag converting. The company is based in Orangeville, Ontario (www.directplasticsgroup.com).
Hilex Poly is the nation’s largest manufacturer of plastic shopping bags, produce bags and related bags and films. Hilex has 10 manufacturing facilities across the U.S, producing over 35 billion bags annually for customers including Wal-Mart, Kroger, Publix, K-Mart, Foot Locker and Dollar General. Hilex operates the only closed-loop bag recycling operation in the U.S. and has the ability to take previously used bags, process them, blend them with virgin resin, and make new bags with a significantly higher percentage of post-consumer content than its competitors. The company is headquartered in Hartsville, SC (www.hilexpoly.com).
“We are extremely pleased to welcome the employees of these companies to Hilex. They have developed a great customer base and bring a tremendous new range of product offerings to Hilex that we will continue to expand. In addition, the progressive work undertaken by Hilex in the plastic bag and wrap recycling market can now be expanded to an even wider portfolio of flexible packaging products,” said Stan Bikulege, Chairman & CEO of Hilex. “We also appreciate the strong support of Wind Point Partners; they understand the importance of this North American manufacturing sector and are highly supportive of this next phase of our growth.”
Wind Point Partners invests from $20 million to $70 million of equity in companies with revenues from $100 million to $500 million and EBITDAs of at least $8 million. Industries of interest include business services, consumer products, healthcare and industrial products. The firm has approximately $2.5 billion in capital under management and has completed more than 90 investments and 161 add-on acquisitions across its seven private equity funds. Wind Point Partners is based in Chicago (www.wppartners.com).
© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 4-3-13