(PlastEurope) -- An agreement reached between global packaging giant Sonoco (Hartsville, South Carolina / USA) and private equity firm Metalmark Capital (New York, New York / USA), under the terms of which the former will acquire specialty packaging solutions manufacturer Tegrant Corporation (Arlington Heights, Illinois / USA), will result in the creation of a new protective packaging giant in North America.
According to Sonoco CEO Harris DeLoach, the USD 550m cash and debt deal, expected to close in November this year, is the largest in the company's history and expected to be accretive to Sonoco's 2012 pro forma earnings. Tegrant is expected to generate sales of USD 440m in 2011. Based on this projection, Sonoco could post revenues of about USD 5 bn in 2012. The new businesses will be overseen by existing Tegrant CEO Ron Leach, who has agreed to stay with Sonoco.
Illinois-based Tegrant operates three key business units: Protexic, which it claimed to be North America's leading moulded expanded foam manufacturer; ThermoSafe, which Tegrant says is the world's leading provider of temperature-assured solutions for temperature-sensitive packaging solutions; and Alloyd, which produces and designs packaging, printed products and blister packaging machines. All in all, the group operates more than 30 plants in the US, Mexico and Ireland, with more than 2,000 employees.