Cascades Inc., Canada, acquired Urban Forest Products, Brook, Ind., and Clarion Packaging, Clarion, Iowa, for $37.4 million, to double production capacity of ecological packaging manufactured in molded pulp.

The plants manufacture molded pulp protective packaging for the egg and quick-service restaurant industries, and have a combined workforce of over 150 employees. Cascades also acquired a majority interest in Falcon Packaging, a Greenville, Ohio-based distributor of egg packaging, with 31 employees in Ohio, Iowa and Georgia.

"These acquisitions give us the opportunity to improve Cascades' position in the strategic fresh protein and foodservices packaging markets. They are also in line with our objective to expand our molded pulp activities, which produce a recycled, recyclable, compostable and biodegradable packaging product that offers highly interesting opportunities against a backdrop of expanding interest in the circular economy. The value of this transaction is in line with current Cascades trading multiple and will be accretive to net earnings," says Mario Plourde, president and CEO of Cascades.

"The quality of the acquired assets and their complementary geographical positioning with our existing plants that manufacture molded pulp packaging will allow us to improve the service we provide to our customers and support our innovation initiatives. With four molded pulp plants efficiently spread out across North America, Cascades will build synergy, improve the distribution of production volumes and allow certain sites to specialize. By doubling our production of molded pulp packaging, today's announcement underlines our commitment to continue growing our presence in the green packaging market," adds Luc Langevin, president and COO of Cascades Specialty Products Group.