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
Plastics M&A Update – March 2026
Global Plastics M&A experienced recorded 38 transactions in March, representing an uptick of seven deals from the prior month and five deals from last March.
Packaging M&A Update – March 2026
Global Packaging M&A activity improved in March, with 27 deals announced.
Plastics M&A Pulse – 2025 Year In Review
Global Plastics M&A recorded its fourth consecutive year of deal volume growth with 420 transactions, highlighting a steady rebound following the record-setting activity of 2021.
Packaging M&A Pulse – 2025 Year In Review
The Global Packaging M&A market achieved its third consecutive year of growth in 2025 with 344 transactions, up 22 deals from 2024.
Packaging M&A Update – February 2026
Global Packaging M&A tapered in February as 20 deals were announced in the sector, down more than 30% from prior month and prior year levels.