Industry Updates

Packaging M&A Update – April 2022

Packaging Industry M&A Activity Tracking

Global Packaging M&A recorded 22 deals in April 2022 down from 29 transactions in March. Average monthly deal volume through the first quarter of the year was 24 transactions which is slightly above April activity levels. The decline can be attributed to less private equity participation in the month; while strategic buyer activity has remained consistent throughout the first four months of 2022, private equity activity has fluctuated. Overall, packaging M&A has cooled down from 2021 levels but is in line with pre-pandemic volumes.

Strategic buyers accounted for 50% of the deal volume in April which was up from 41% in March; strategic buyers have averaged 12 deals per month through the first four months of the year
Private equity activity dipped in the month as less financial buyers executed platform transactions; private equity add-on transaction activity remained strong in the month
Paper packaging once again led all packaging subsectors, accounting for 14 deals in the month which represented a 3 deal increase month-over-month
The Flexible Plastic subsector continued its strong start to the year with 4 deals announced in April 2022; Flexible Plastic deal volume has increased by 2 transactions year-over-year
Food & Beverage and Industrial transactions have led all packaging end-markets accounting for 67% of the deal volume through April

Global Packaging M&A activity appears to have returned to pre-pandemic levels through the first four months of the year. While activity has decreased from record 2021 levels, buyers and sellers continue to be motivated to close transactions in the packaging industry. If you are a packaging company considering a merger, acquisition, sale or recapitalization in the short or longer term, please consider leveraging PMCF’s transaction planning and execution expertise to best position your company in a transaction.