Richmond’s Liqui-Box completes $585M DS Smith plc acquisition

Deal creates a combined company with 3,000 workers and 35 manufacturing facilities.

Published February 28, 2020 by Sydney Lake

Richmond-based packaging company Liqui-Box Corp. completed its acquisition of London-based international packaging business DS Smith plc’s plastics division to create a combined company with 35 manufacturing facilities and approximately 3,000 employees, the company announced Thursday.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but media reports last fall stated that the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority was investigating the proposed merger, which was then valued at €522.5 million, or $585 million, to ensure it didn’t harm competition.

DS Smith’s flexible packaging and Worldwide Dispensers business will become a part of the Liqui-Box brand. Its injection molded products and foam products will become three newly branded and independently operated businesses called Corplex, DW Reusables and Engineered Foam Products. 

“We’re excited to complete this transformational acquisition and welcome the DS Smith Plastics employees to our team,” Liqui-Box CEO Ken Swanson said in a statement. “The new structure and brand identity of these businesses further supports our strategy and commitment to lead the way with sustainable packaging solutions.

Liqui-Box was founded more than 60 years ago and is a portfolio company of Stamford, Connecticut-based financial services company Olympus Partners. Olympus manages more than $8.5 billion on behalf of corporation pension funds, endowment funds and state-sponsored retirement programs.