Novolex, Hartsville, South Carolina, has acquired Wisconsin Film & Bag (WF&B), a Shawano, Wisconsin-based manufacturer of custom polyethylene (PE) bags and films as well as a leader in sustainable and recycled materials based. WF&B operates a converting plant and a plastics recycling plant near Shawano and has approximately 175 employees.
“We are excited about the addition of Wisconsin Film & Bag to the Novolex family,” says Stan Bikulege, chairman and CEO of Novolex. “This is important to us because it will further enhance our high-quality packaging choices for customers while advancing our position as the industry leader in sustainability.”
Bikulege continues, “It’s a great fit for Novolex and we will look forward to integrating the Shawano team with our successful Novolex Custom Film & Bag brand. Our focus is to continue to invest in our business and supply our customers with world class paper and plastic packaging products.”
WF&B was founded in 1972 in Oconto, Wisconsin, as a manufacturer of can liners. The company expanded and moved to the Shawano site in the early 1980s. The manufacturer says it has experienced continuous growth over the last 40 years and invested in state-of-the-art manufacturing systems. The company notes that it has won several prestigious awards in recent years for innovation and has unique expertise in the recovery and recycling of postindustrial and postconsumer plastics packaging.
Alex Washington, a managing director at Wind Point Partners, a private equity investment firm and the parent company of Novolex, says, “We’re very excited to welcome Wisconsin Film & Bag into the Novolex family and commend Jim Feeney, CEO of WF&B, and the entire organization on the track record of quality and success, which we plan to build upon.”
WF&B is Novolex’s fourth acquisition since Wind Point Partners acquired Novolex (formerly Hilex Poly) in 2012, in partnership with Bikulege.
Previous Novolex acquisitions include Packaging Dynamics (December 2014), Duro Bag (July 2014) and a portion of Clondalkin Group’s North American Flexible Packaging Division (April 2013). With the addition of WF&B, Novolex says it is now a $2 billion revenue company with more than 5,200 employees and 37 manufacturing locations in North America, including two world-class recycling facilities.
DLA Piper LLP and Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough LLP advised Novolex. William Blair & Co. and Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c. advised WF&B. WF&B was owned by an investment group led by Marquette Capital Partners with co-investors Argosy Private Equity, First Capital Partners and members of management.
“We are excited about the addition of Wisconsin Film & Bag to the Novolex family,” says Stan Bikulege, chairman and CEO of Novolex. “This is important to us because it will further enhance our high-quality packaging choices for customers while advancing our position as the industry leader in sustainability.”
Bikulege continues, “It’s a great fit for Novolex and we will look forward to integrating the Shawano team with our successful Novolex Custom Film & Bag brand. Our focus is to continue to invest in our business and supply our customers with world class paper and plastic packaging products.”
WF&B was founded in 1972 in Oconto, Wisconsin, as a manufacturer of can liners. The company expanded and moved to the Shawano site in the early 1980s. The manufacturer says it has experienced continuous growth over the last 40 years and invested in state-of-the-art manufacturing systems. The company notes that it has won several prestigious awards in recent years for innovation and has unique expertise in the recovery and recycling of postindustrial and postconsumer plastics packaging.
Alex Washington, a managing director at Wind Point Partners, a private equity investment firm and the parent company of Novolex, says, “We’re very excited to welcome Wisconsin Film & Bag into the Novolex family and commend Jim Feeney, CEO of WF&B, and the entire organization on the track record of quality and success, which we plan to build upon.”
WF&B is Novolex’s fourth acquisition since Wind Point Partners acquired Novolex (formerly Hilex Poly) in 2012, in partnership with Bikulege.
Previous Novolex acquisitions include Packaging Dynamics (December 2014), Duro Bag (July 2014) and a portion of Clondalkin Group’s North American Flexible Packaging Division (April 2013). With the addition of WF&B, Novolex says it is now a $2 billion revenue company with more than 5,200 employees and 37 manufacturing locations in North America, including two world-class recycling facilities.
DLA Piper LLP and Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough LLP advised Novolex. William Blair & Co. and Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c. advised WF&B. WF&B was owned by an investment group led by Marquette Capital Partners with co-investors Argosy Private Equity, First Capital Partners and members of management.