Novolex and Pactiv Evergreen merger agreement has been announced. The merger aims to create one of the most diverse substrate offerings in the packaging industry, combining the complementary businesses to enhance product platforms, innovation, sustainability, and customer service across food, beverage, and specialty packaging sectors.
The merger will increase choice with more than 250 brands and 39,000 combined SKUs, as well as give expanded service and distribution capabilities through a broad production presence in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
The transaction is supported by Apollo and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Investors will contribute around $1 billion and will be a significant minority shareholder in post-merger entity. The combined company will be led by Stan Bikulege, who is the Chairman and CEO of Novolex. Post merger completion, Pactiv Evergreen will become a privately held company, and its common stock will no longer be listed on Nasdaq.
The deal is valued at an enterprise value of $6.7 billion as of September 30, 2024. Pactiv Evergreen shareholders will receive $18 per share in cash, representing a 49% premium over the two-month unaffected volume-weighted average trading price as of December 2, 2024.
There’s a marked trend towards eco-friendly packaging, with investments in biodegradable and recyclable materials. Companies like Huhtamaki are innovating with mono-material technologies to enhance sustainability in flexible packaging. Asia-Pacific leads the packaging market share and growth, being the largest consumer of packaging materials, particularly due to the high population density and increasing urbanization in countries like China and India, followed by North America.
Amcor Plc, a US based packaging firm has announced plans to acquire Berry Global Group Inc. in an all-stock deal valued at $8.4 billion. The combined company expects to generate annual revenues of $24 billion and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of $4.3 billion. They anticipate achieving synergies of about $650 million by the end of the third year post-merger. The merger aims to create a global leader in consumer and healthcare packaging solutions, combining Amcor’s global flexibles and regional containers businesses with Berry’s regional flexibles and global containers and closures businesses. This is expected to enhance product offerings, innovation capabilities, and sustainability efforts. The merged entity will have a significant presence in both Zurich, Switzerland (Amcor’s headquarters) and Evansville, Indiana (Berry’s hometown), maintaining a global footprint across more than 140 countries with approximately 400 production facilities. This isn’t Amcor’s first significant acquisition; in 2019, it acquired Bemis Company for $5.25 billion, which was its largest acquisition until this deal with Berry.
Mondi has made significant investments in fiber recycling systems in Poland, focusing on enhancing sustainability and meeting the growing demand for eco-friendly packaging solutions. In October 2024, Mondi finalized a €95 million investment at its Świecie containerboard mill in Poland. This strategic investment increased the mill’s kraftliner capacity by 55,000 tonnes annually. It involved rebuilding paper machines PM2 and PM5, adding a new anaerobic treatment plant with an integrated cooling system, and improving the pulp mill, recycled fiber line, and energy recovery systems. These enhancements aim to meet the increasing demand for heavy-duty packaging while improving environmental performance by decreasing water consumption, reducing wastewater emissions, and increasing energy efficiency. Mondi also demonstrated its commitment to sustainability by increasing water recycling at the Świecie mill. Mondi’s broader investment in recycling research includes the establishment of a recycling laboratory in Austria with a focus on fiber-based products and pulp, which indirectly supports their operations and innovations in Poland by enhancing overall recycling technology and methodologies. These investments are part of Mondi’s larger strategy to push for circular-driven solutions in packaging, aligning with their Mondi Action Plan 2030 (MAP2030) commitments to make all packaging solutions reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025.
Indian firms in packaging space are not behind. Varun Beverages Limited (VBL) has made significant moves in acquiring PepsiCo’s bottling franchises, expanding its footprint both in India and internationally. In 2019, VBL acquired PepsiCo’s bottling franchise in South and West India, marking a pivotal moment that made VBL a national bottling partner for PepsiCo. This acquisition was aimed at unlocking the full potential of PepsiCo’s operating model in India by franchising its company-owned bottling operations to VBL. This deal allowed VBL to acquire a national bottling, sales, and distribution footprint across India. In December 2023, VBL announced and by March 2024 completed the acquisition of The Beverage Company (Bevco) in South Africa for ₹1,320 crore, aiming to expand its geographical footprint in Africa. Bevco holds franchise rights from PepsiCo in South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini, with additional distribution rights in Namibia and Botswana. These acquisitions have significantly increased VBL’s operational scale, productivity, and efficiency, driving higher revenues and profitable growth. They align with VBL’s strategy to expand into contiguous territories, leveraging its long-standing partnership with PepsiCo, which dates back nearly three decades. This expansion not only consolidates VBL’s position within India but also establishes it as a key player in PepsiCo’s global bottling network.
During 2023, JK Paper announced its acquisition of Manipal Utility Packaging Solutions (MUPSPL). JK Paper entered into a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) to acquire 100% of the shares of MUPSPL for approximately Rs 90 crore. This move is in line with JK Paper’s long-term strategic objective to strengthen its position in the packaging business. JK Paper’s earlier moves to acquire 85% stakes in Horizon Packs and Securipax Packaging for about Rs 578 crore in November 2022, indicates a pattern of strategic expansion in the packaging sector.
The Metal Can Packaging market is expanding internationally. Shetron is a publicly traded company that manufactures and distributes food cans worldwide. According to growth predictions in the company’s Annual Report, the India Packaging Market is predicted to be worth USD 84.37 billion in 2024 and USD 142.56 billion by 2029.
According to UFlex, another key listed organisation in the packaging arena, the worldwide flexible packaging market was valued at USD 300.6 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 5.2% from 2024-2032. In FY24, the company had a combined net revenue of INR 13,509 crore. In FY25, Company will start several significant projects, such as a 216,000 MTPA virgin PET chips factory in Egypt, an 18,000 MTPA CPP line in Mexico, and capacity debottlenecking at an aseptic plant in Sanand, India, to expand annual production to 12 billion packs. These strategic initiatives are critical to providing long-term benefit for all UFlex stakeholders.
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