With the acquisition of a majority stake in US-based TPG Plastics (Murray, Kentucky; www.tpgplastics.com), Ipackchem (Paris; www.ipackchem.com) is entering the North American market.

The French manufacturer of blow-moulded packaging plans to make a major investment in the US firm’s headquarters facility and install its proprietary Advanced In-Mold Fluorination technology, said Ipackchem founder and CEO Jean-Philippe Morvan. The site will then produce speciality barrier containers for the crop protection market, and Ipackchem aims to supply them to multinational customers from the 2023/24 growing season.

TPG currently mainly manufactures petrol and water cans. The company was formed in March 2018 by investment firm Beaconhouse Capital to absorb the assets of what was then The Plastics Group of Willowbrook, Illinois. When the almost 6,000 m² TPG plant in Murray opened last year, the machine park comprised 17 stretch blow moulding lines.

In addition to the crop protection market, Ipackchem also makes containers, bottles, and canisters for pharmaceuticals, animal care, laboratories, flavorings, and fragrances. The production network includes 11 plants, with three in India, two in China, and one each in France, UK, Hungary, Russia, Brazil, South Africa.

The company, which employs 1,300, has belonged to US investment firm SK Capital Partners (New York, New York; www.skcapitalpartners.com) since last year (see Plasteurope.com of 21.12.2020).