Industry Updates

Plastics M&A Update – April 2022

Plastics Industry M&A Activity Tracking

Global Plastics M&A slowed in April 2022, recording 26 deals in the month which was down from 36 transactions in March. While April marks the first time since February of 2021 that plastic transaction volumes fell below 30, deal activity remains elevated through the first four months of 2022. This level of deal activity is more in line with transaction volumes witnessed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, Global Plastics M&A has exceeded 2021 levels through the first four months of the year and remains robust.

Public strategic buyers accounted for 39% of the deal volume in April 2022 which was up from 19% in March and 15% in 2021
Private equity add-on acquisitions remained strong with 9 deals in the month which was only down 1 transaction from March 2022 levels
Specialty transactions including machinery, distribution, foam, and profile extrusion deals led the way in April with 11 transactions in the month; through the first four months of the year, the Specialty subsector averaged 13 transactions
The Injection Molding subsector recorded its lowest level of activity since May 2020; Injection Molding M&A activity has slowed in 2022, posting 17 fewer transactions in 2022 compared to 2021 year-to-date
Consumer and Food & Beverage transactions accounted for 35% of the transactions in April which is up from 2022 year-to-date levels of 24%

Global Plastics M&A cooled in April 2022 with transaction volumes falling closer to pre-pandemic levels; monthly M&A activity averaged 28 transactions from 2017 – 2019. While it remains to be seen if April is the new normal level of transaction activity, plastics M&A as a whole has remained strong through the first four months of the year. If you are a plastics 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.