PMCF’s View on the M&A Market
We are pleased to provide you with our inaugural Plastics & Packaging Monthly M&A Update which is meant to supplement our semi-annual M&A reports and provide our contacts with more frequent information on M&A activity in the dynamic plastics and packaging industries.
In October 2019, M&A activity posted declines in both plastics and packaging sectors compared to a very strong month last year. Year-to-date activity remains healthy overall with the plastics sector up 3.6% and the packaging sector down by less than 1% when compared to elevated levels last year. Injection Molding and Specialty sub-segments in the plastics sector are showing notable increases for the year while the packaging sector sub-segments are pretty consistent. Both strategic and private equity buyers remain active but we are seeing higher levels of private equity add-on activity in the past couple of months. Outlook for the remainder of the year looks favorable with multiples continuing to be reported at elevated levels across several sub-segments and there seems to be a good number of deals in the market that should close or be announced by the end of the year.
PMCF Industry M&A Activity Tracking
Notable M&A Activity
Major News in Plastics & Packaging
- Plastics News: A quiet October for commodity resin prices
- Plastics Today: First-of-a-kind Coca-Cola PET bottles made from ocean plastics
- Plastics News: Partners take recycled PET flake to food-grade preforms
- Fastmarkets RISI: Containerboard – October box demand down 0.5%, YTD demand precisely flat; low-priced exports surprisingly surge
Public Entity Performance
Packaging M&A Update – June 2026
Global Packaging M&A held steady in June with 27 transactions, in line with May and three deals above June 2025.
Plastics M&A Update – June 2026
Global Plastics M&A accelerated in June, with 46 transactions announced, an increase of 10 from May and eight from June 2025.
Packaging M&A Update – May 2026
Global Packaging M&A activity slowed slightly in May, with 27 deals announced. While this reflected only a one-deal decrease compared to April, activity rebounded meaningfully from May 2025, with ten more transactions announced.
Plastics M&A Update – May 2026
Global Plastics M&A recorded 36 transactions in May, increasing by five deals from April and seven from May 2025, bringing year-to-date volume to 188 transactions.
Packaging M&A Update – April 2026
Global Packaging M&A activity remained stable in April, with 28 deals announced, one fewer than April 2025 and slightly above March levels. Through the first four months of 2026, 105 deals have been announced, a 27-deal decrease from the prior-year period.