BMO Markets Releases Report on Packaging M&A

Published: January 12, 2010

CHICAGO, IL | BMO Capital Markets, the investment and corporate banking arm of BMO Financial Group, has released its fifth annual report on packaging M&A activity, entitled Mergers and Acquisitions in the Packaging Industry: 2009 Annual Deal Review. The report provides a comprehensive review of M&A in the packaging industry in North America, as well as on a global basis over the last several years.

The report provides an overview of reported M&A activity in 2009, examining M&A activity by sector, geography, acquirer type, size, and valuations. The report also provides a brief synopsis of each transaction announced during the year. In addition, the report examines packaging M&A trends over the last several years.

"The last year was the most challenging year for M&A activity in the packaging industry in recent history, affecting deal volume, valuations, and interest among all types of acquirers," said Doug Lawson, Managing Director and Head of BMO Capital Markets packaging practice. "The challenging M&A market conditions that characterized 2008 worsened in 2009. The credit crisis and difficult economic environment resulted in a significant slowdown in packaging M&A activity among strategic and financial acquirers,"

Highlights of recent packaging M&A activity which are reviewed in the report include: 2009 Global M&A volume declined from the ten-year low of 2008. There were 169 announced transactions in 2009, a decline of 33% from the 251 announced transactions of 2008 and a 56% decline from the record setting level of 386 at the peak of the M&A market in 2007.

To request a copy of the Mergers & Acquisitions in the Packaging Industry: Annual Deal Review, or to receive The Converter, a monthly BMO newsletter which reports on the activities and trends shaping this industry, visit http://cl.exct.net.