Warburg Pincus has agreed to acquire packaging products maker Pregis from Olympus Partners. Olympus acquired Pregis in May 2014 from AEA Investors.
Pregis is a provider of protective packaging materials, equipment systems and surface protection products. The company’s products include on demand systems for paper, inflatable air, foam, and poly bags. Other products include temporary protection films, shipping mailers, bubble cushioning & pouches, and foam sheets & pouches.
Pregis’ products are used in a variety of consumer and industrial market segments including food, pharmaceutical, healthcare, medical devices, agricultural, e-commerce, retail, automotive, transportation, furniture, electronics, building, construction, military and aerospace. Pregis has 2,250 employees across 22 manufacturing facilities in North America and Europe with a headquarters in the Chicago suburb of Deerfield (www.pregis.com).
Pregis’ current management team, led by CEO Kevin Baudhuin, will continue to operate the business under Warburg Pincus’ ownership. “We are pleased to partner with Warburg Pincus to continue our strong growth that has been attained through customer-focused innovation, market development and investments,” said Mr. Baudhuin. “Backed by their extensive network of knowledgeable resources and global perspectives, we are confident that Warburg Pincus will further accelerate our future growth. We also want to sincerely thank Olympus for their partnership and support, which have been key to our success over the past five years.”
During the Olympus ownership term, the company completed six add-on acquisitions including Eagle Film Extruders (September 2015), Easypack Ltd (September 2016), Sharp Packaging Systems (May 2017), 3M PolyMask (October 2016), Rex Performance Products (February 2018) and FP International (July 2018). In addition to its add-on acquisition activity, Olympus also made capital investments to expand capacity including multiple new blown film extrusion lines at its Pregis Films facility in Grand Rapids, MI.
“Pregis has built an attractive market leadership position by providing innovative protective packaging solutions and we look forward to partnering with management to continue the company’s success,” said Jeffrey Goldfaden, a managing director at Warburg Pincus.
Warburg Pincus has more than $58 billion of assets under management and has raised 18 private equity funds since its founding in 1966. The firm is headquartered in New York with offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Mauritius, San Francisco, São Paulo, Shanghai and Singapore (www.warburgpincus.com).
Olympus, the seller of Pregis, invests in a range of industries but has specific expertise in business services, consumer products, healthcare services, financial services, industrial services, and manufacturing. In December 2017, the firm held a final closing of its seventh institutional private equity fund, Olympus Growth Fund VII LP, with an oversubscribed $3 billion of capital commitments. The firm was founded in 1988 and is based in Stamford, CT (www.olympuspartners.com).
© 2019 Private Equity Professional | June 6, 2019
