Bag manufacturer Novolex (Hartsville, South Carolina / USA; www.novolex.com), formerly known as Hilex Poly, is to acquire Packaging Dynamics (Chicago, Illinois / USA; www.pkdy.com). The combined company will offer a range of plastic and paper flexible packaging products across foodservice, grocery, retail, food manufacturing, industrial and distribution end markets. It will have revenues of USD 1.9 bn and will operate under the Novolex name, with 35 manufacturing locations in North America, a world-class plastic recycling facility, and over 5,100 employees.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2014. Private equity firm Wind Point Partners (Chicago, Illinois / USA; www.wppartners.com) acquired Novolex in 2012. Packaging Dynamics is Novolex’s third acquisition – it acquired parts of the North American flexible packaging division of Amsterdam-based flexible and specialist packaging producer Clondalkin Group (www.clondalkingroup.com) in 2013 and Duro Bag Manufacturing (Florence, Kentucky / USA; www.durobag.com) earlier in 2014.

Wind Point managing director, Alex Washington, said: “Our investment thesis was to build upon the strong operational platform of Hilex Poly and through acquisitions and organic growth to create a broader, more diversified flexible packaging leader. The addition of Packaging Dynamics is an ideal next step in that transformation.”