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Packaging M&A Update – May 2025

July 1, 2025

Packaging Industry M&A Activity Tracking

Global Packaging M&A tallied 17 deals in May, marking a 12-deal decline from April and a seven-deal retreat from May 2024 totals. Both domestic and foreign activity were weak in the month, a departure from recent activity which saw robust foreign activity that buoyed sluggish domestic demand. A cooling M&A appetite was also seen across strategic and financial buyers as both buyer classes recorded their slowest month thus far in 2025. Packaging M&A activity is still well above 2024 levels through five months of the year. Overall, May was a slow month for Global Packaging M&A, but this was likely the response to recent tariff announcements rather than a broad pullback in the M&A market.

  • Protective Packaging recorded five deals in May, continuing a trend of high activity in the space. Through five months, 17 deals in the subsector were announced, over twice the pace of 2024. Conversely, eight fewer Machinery and Distribution deals were tallied in May 2025 compared to the prior year. Flexible packaging also had a slow month of activity with two deals announced, well below the year-to-date monthly average of five deals
  • Both strategic and financial buyer activity decreased during the month. Strategic buyers have been less active in each month throughout 2025 thus far, contributing only seven deals in May. Platform acquisitions remained steady month-over-over while add-on volume fell sharply from April
  • While foreign M&A activity has bolstered much of the sector’s activity over the past 18 months, this buyer group recorded eight transactions, much below the year-to-date monthly average of 17. Domestic activity was steady month-other-month at eight deals
  • Transactions were spread consistently across Food & Beverage, Industrial, and Consumer end markets in May with five or six deals in each end market. Medical packaging did not record a deal during the month

Sources: S&P Capital IQ, Company Websites, Pitchbook, Company Reports, PMCF

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