Flexible packaging supplier Transcontinental buys Flexstar Packaging

Montreal-based flexible packaging supplier Transcontinental Inc. has acquired all of the shares of Flexstar Packaging Inc., a flexible packager based in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond, B.C.

The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Flexstar specializes in converting high barrier film, including printing, lamination and pouch making, for the cereal, confectionery, snack, frozen food and coffee markets. The company employs approximately 120 workers, and generated about $36 million in revenues for the last twelve months ending in July 2016.

“I am proud of this latest acquisition in our strategy to grow our flexible packaging network as it is our first in Canada,” said François Olivier, president and CEO of TC Transcontinental. “Flexstar enables us to extend our footprint to the West Coast, providing us a coast-to-coast platform to better optimize our production. In addition, it brings us new manufacturing capabilities with film extrusion, a complementary sales force and the ability to generate synergies.”

For Flexstar, this is the latest in a long line of new owners; the company has had eight owners since it was founded in 1970. For the past 11 years, Flexstar has been owned by a group of Vancouver-based investors led by Stern Partners Inc., a group that includes Flexstar president and CEO Marc Bray. Bray is staying on with TC Transcontinental.

“We are very excited to join a leading Canadian company like TC Transcontinental, a family business with a strong manufacturing expertise and strategic growth plans in the flexible packaging sector,” Bray said. “We believe our core values align very well with TC Transcontinental and are pleased to be a part of its North American packaging platform.”