Emerald Lake Capital Management, a middle market private equity firm investing in capital-efficient businesses with sustainable competitive advantages and strong growth prospects in the industrials and services sectors, announced the sale of Inno-Pak, a designer, manufacturer, importer and supplier of innovative, eco-friendly packaging for prepared and takeout foods, to Handgards, a portfolio company of Wynnchurch Capital. The terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Based in Delaware, Ohio, Inno-Pak holds more than 170 design and utility patents on products ranging from nested paper takeout containers, soup cups and transparent lids, flat bottom laminated bag systems for rotisserie chickens, and multi-substrate bakery/deli cartons. And InnoPak’s products span multiple substrates – including paperboard, paper, flexible films, rigid plastic, and corrugated, a differentiator that enables the Company to adapt quickly to changing customer needs and preferences.
Since collaborating with Emerald Lake in 2020, Inno-Pak has made strides in new product innovation, more than doubling its patent portfolio, while also making significant investments in its manufacturing and distribution footprint. And the c opened its first scaled domestic production facility in 2023, a greenfield plant in Ohio which included an expansion of its primary distribution center, and in 2022 opened in Nevada an additional distribution center to add capacity and support for West Coast customers.
Inno-Pak also completed 3 strategic acquisitions to expand its product offerings, geographic presence and manufacturing capacity – Stalk Market in 2022 and Finishing Services Inc. and Albany Packaging in 2023. Inno-Pak has strengthened its team with the buildout of its sales organization as well as several senior leadership hires.
Baird and BMO Capital Markets served as financial advisers to Inno-Pak. Kirkland & Ellis acted as legal adviser to Emerald Lake and the company.
KEY QUOTES:
“We’re pleased to have partnered with the Inno-Pak team to support the Company’s growth and continued ability to meet demand for eco-friendly packaging solutions as customer preferences shift towards prepared foods coming from supermarkets and app-based delivery. We have been continually impressed by Inno-Pak’s differentiated ability to work across multiple substrates and product types to meet the full spectrum of prepared food packaging needs. We are proud of what the Company has accomplished to expand product development, manufacturing, distribution, and sales. We appreciate the efforts of Chris Sanzone, Jon and Todd Sill, and the rest of the Inno-Pak team in driving the company’s success during our partnership. We wish Inno-Pak continued success as part of Handgards.”
– Dan Lukas, Managing Partner of Emerald Lake
“Over the past five years, Inno-Pak has experienced tremendous growth across our product portfolio, manufacturing footprint, and team capabilities. We are grateful for our partnership with the Emerald Lake team, who share our growth ambitions, culture of innovation and focus on remaining adaptable to meet the needs of our customers. We look forward to a productive partnership with Handgards, which has a proven track record in our industry which will help us to unlock our next chapter of growth.”
– Chris Sanzone, Chief Executive Officer of Inno-Pak
