Atlas Holdings has sold NPX One, a manufacturer and seller of polystyrene trays, to Breck Partners.
In 2015, Atlas formed Novipax to acquire the North American foam tray and absorbent pad businesses of publicly traded Sealed Air (NYSE: SEE). In December 2020, Atlas sold Novipax to ACON but retained the company’s trays business, which manufactures expanded polystyrene foam trays used by food processors, supermarkets and food distributors, and rebranded the business as NPX One.
Today, according to NPX One, the company is the second largest supplier of polystyrene trays for fresh protein in the United States. NPX ONE, led by CEO Rudy Cuellar, is headquartered in Reading, Pennsylvania, and operates two production facilities in Indianapolis and Reading.
“Since we began our journey as Novipax, we not only built a strong and growing company, but created a customer-focused culture recognized in the industry as the leader in service, quality and delivery,” said Ron Leach, an Atlas operating partner who served as the chairman of Novipax and NPX One since the initial Atlas acquisition in 2015. “Throughout every step of the process, Atlas served as a true, collaborative partner as we transformed Novipax, and ultimately NPX One.”
“We are pleased and excited for our new partnership with the Breck team,” said Mr. Cuellar. “This new partnership will help position us for continued innovation in our products and services as we continually seek to serve our employees, customers and supply chain partners even better. NPX One and Breck share a strategic vision for growth that will truly enhance our presence in the food packaging marketplace. The future is incredibly bright for NPX One!”
“Rudy and the leadership team at NPX One have built a solid operating business that provides exceptional value to their broad base of outstanding customers,” said Brian Steinbrueck, a partner at Breck. “The company is at a compelling inflection point with many great operational and strategic opportunities ahead, which is exactly where Breck seeks to invest and support our leaders in their journey. We are excited to partner with the team to continue building a leading food packaging platform.”
“The sale of NPX One concludes an almost decade-long journey that began with the launch of Novipax,” said Sam Astor, a partner at Atlas. “This lifecycle reflects a cornerstone of Atlas’ investment approach – acquiring assets via a complex corporate carveout, establishing those assets as a standalone business and strengthening the business over the long term through partnership with the leadership team. NPX One is on an exciting trajectory, and we look forward to watching all that it achieves in this next phase of growth.”
“NPX One provides a unique value proposition as a high quality, exceptional service option in their market. A strong, deeply invested team combined with solid growth potential is a compelling situation for Breck,” added Brad Brenneman, a partner at Breck. “We are honored to partner with Rudy and the NPX One team and look forward to supporting the company’s growth.”
Breck Partners makes control equity investments in lower middle-market industrial companies that have revenues of $75 million to $250 million and enterprise values of $50 million to $100 million. The Dallas-headquartered firm was founded in 2019 by Messrs. Brenneman and Steinbrueck who had worked together for more than a decade at Dallas-headquartered Wingate Partners.
Atlas is a holding company that has more than 25 platform companies operating in a wide range of sectors with more than $16 billion in total revenues, more than 50,000 employees, and more than 350 facilities worldwide. Some of the sectors that Atlas invests in are aluminum processing, automotive, building materials, food manufacturing and distribution, packaging, paper, power generation and wood products.
In April 2021, Atlas held a first, final, and hard cap close of its fourth private equity investment fund, Atlas Capital Resources IV LP, with $3.1 billion of capital. The firm was founded in 2002 by managing partners Andrew Bursky and Tim Fazio and is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut.
© 2024 Private Equity Professional | May 7, 2024
