Disposable tableware deal
U.S. -based Pactiv Corp., a manufacturer of packaging for the food industry, announced it would buy US-based Prairie Packaging for $1 billion. Prairie Packaging is a major manufacturer of disposable plates, cups, and cutlery.
Pactiv specializes in several areas: on the consumer side, it makes plastic bags (it owns the Hefty and Baggies brand names). It also supplies a wide variety of wholesale packaging products from egg cartons and salad bags to carry-out containers and, like its acquisition target, disposable tableware.
Prairie Packaging has an especially strong position in beverage cups, a sector that is growing because of the explosion in specialty hot drinks.
Pactiv was spun off from auto-parts maker Tenneco in 1999. In 2005, Pactiv refocused the company on food packaging by selling off its division that sold such products as foam sheets, medical packaging, and diaper liners. It has found a market segment it can be dominant in, and it is hinting that Prairie is only the first of several planned acquisitions.
9:26:49 AM 
|
|
