Kelso Keeps Rolling Up Rigid Packaging Sector

Novvia Group, a portfolio company of Kelso & Company, has acquired Rahway Steel Drum Company.

Rahway Steel Drum is a manufacturer, reconditioner, and distributor of drums, pails, intermediate bulk containers (IBCs), and other rigid packaging products. The company’s steel, plastic, and fiber products range in size from 1 quart to 550 gallons. Rahway, owned by Mike and Tony Foglia, has a 120,000 sq. ft. headquarters facility in Cranbury, New Jersey, and operates two additional facilities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The acquisition of Rahway represents Novvia’s expansion into the Northeast. “The acquisition of Rahway is an important step for Novvia, in that it delivers on our original premise of being the only industrial packaging distributor with complete coverage of the U.S. and Canada,” said Novvia Executive Chairman Ken Roessler. “We are grateful that Mike and Tony Foglia selected Novvia as their partner and look forward to continuing their customer-first legacy.”

Kelso’s investment in Novvia begins with the December 2020 buy of Inmark Packaging from Quad-C Management. Several add-on acquisitions followed including St. Louis-based C.L. Smith (May 2021); California-based Silver Spur (May 2021); and Oklahoma-based Container Supply (June 2021). In October 2021, Kelso formed Novvia to consolidate these four investments and continued its add-on acquisition program with the acquisitions of Illinois-based Fox Valley Containers (October 2021); the Shanghai operations of Acepac International (November 2021); California-based Rhino Container (December 2021); the Ontario-based container distribution division of Andicor Specialty Chemicals (February 2022); Georgia-based Southern Container (April 2022); Florida-based Duval Container (July 2022); California-based Rios Containers (October 2022); and California-based Auberst (November 2022).

Today, St. Louis-headquartered Novvia Group is a nationwide and international provider of packaging products and related services to numerous industries through its thirteen operating subsidiaries.

New York City-based Kelso & Company is one of the oldest and most established firms specializing in middle-market private equity investing. Since 1980, Kelso has invested over $19 billion of equity capital in 139 transactions.

© 2022 Private Equity Professional | December 15, 2022