US private equity group Warburg Pincus (New York, New York; www.warburgpincus.com) has agreed to buy protective packaging manufacturer Pregis (Deerfield, Illinois / USA; www.pregis.com) from current owner Olympus Partners (Stamford, Connecticut / USA; www.olympuspartners.com). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"We are pleased to partner with Warburg Pincus to continue our strong growth that has been attained through customer-focused innovation, market development and investments," said Kevin Baudhuin, president and chief executive officer of Pregis. "Backed by their extensive network of knowledgeable resources and global perspectives, we are confident that Warburg Pincus will further accelerate our future growth." The current Pregis management team, including Baudhuin, will continue under the new ownership.

Olympus bought Pregis in May 2014 – see Plasteurope.com of 05.05.2014 – and the company has since acquired six companies: Eagle Film Extruders, Easypack, Sharp Packaging Systems, 3M's PolyMask, Rex Performance Products and Free-Flow Packaging International. These acquisitions boosted its manufacturing facilities in Europe and North America from 14 to 22.

The company also made several "significant" investments during Olympus' ownership, including installing new multiple blown film extrusion lines at its Pregis Films plant in Michigan / USA to meet increased demand – see Plasteurope.com of 26.04.2019. Most recently, Pregis established a European operating unit to widen its geographic footprint - see Plasteurope.com of 15.04.2019.