Pregis Corp. to get new owner

The private equity owner of Pregis Corp. is selling off its North American operations for an undisclosed sum.

Olympus Partners of Stamford, Conn., is buying the business from AEA Investors LP, which acquired the Deerfield, Ill.-based maker of protective packaging materials and systems back in 2005.

Olympus also is signaling its plans to invest in the soon-to-be acquired operations.

“Pregis is well positioned for growth with innovative solutions, expanding markets and solid channel partnerships,” said Manu Bettegowda, a partner with Olympus Partners, in a statement.

Pregis also has operations in Europe that are not part of the deal announced April 22.

AEA Investors, with U.S. offices in New York and Stamford, created the Pregis brand when that private equity firm acquired the flexible and protective businesses of Pactiv Corp. in 2005 for approximately $530 million.

The company, with 14 facilities in North America, makes a variety of protective packaging, including bubble air cushioning, mailers, sheet foam, protective film, engineered foam, foam-in-place and specialty products. The company also has a line of paper packaging systems.

“Over the past decade, Pregis has established a strong track record of growing its business through product development, market diversification and acquisition,” Pregis CEO Kevin Baudhuin said in a statement. “Olympus Partners will continue supporting that growth by investing significant capital in the business.”

Baudhuin will continue leading the company after the sale.

Olympus manages more than $5 billion and has been in business since 1988. The company has made more than 60 investments over time and typically limits new investments to three or four each year, according to the firm’s website.

AEA Investors, founded in 1968, calls itself a pioneer in private equity. The firm was created through the Rockefeller, Mellon and Harriman families and S.G. Warburg & Co.

Terms of the deal, expected to close by the end of May, were not disclosed.

Courtesy: Scrap Monster