Pregis adds paper cold chain capacity with MP Global Packaging acquisition

Paper-based thermal packaging for temperature-sensitive deliveries is in focus after Pregis completed the purchase of MP Global Packaging, a business unit of MP Global Products. Terms were not disclosed. The deal adds two US manufacturing sites, 110 employees, and a macerated-cardboard insulation process to Pregis's fibre portfolio.

Two plants, one process

The acquired business operates from New Albany, Indiana, and Norfolk, Nebraska. Paper thermal packaging made from macerated cardboard is its primary product; the material's thermal insulation characteristics make it suited to temperature-controlled shipments. Curbside recyclability applies in areas where collection infrastructure exists.

Pregis said both facilities will continue operating from their current locations. The company plans to invest in expanding the technology and maintain supply to existing customers. During the transition, it said it will work with employees, customers and suppliers.

Leadership and the strategic rationale

Reid Borgman, who ran the MP Global Packaging division, joins Pregis as vice-president and cold chain general manager. He said the move gives the unit's customers and employees more resources and reach, and that the combined organization can advance innovation in fibre-based cold chain.

Pregis chairman and CEO Kevin Baudhuin tied the acquisition to the company's 2K30 sustainability commitment. In his framing, fibre-based materials are a growing part of the Pregis portfolio and cold chain is a natural extension of that direction. He said the deal brings proven technology, deep expertise and a team Pregis can use to scale paper-based thermal solutions and support customers working toward their own sustainability goals.

The EverTec pattern

Pregis follows the same approach it applied to EverTec, a paper mailer business acquired in 2020 and later expanded to annual output of more than one billion units across five plants. Baudhuin described cold chain as a natural extension of the fibre strategy.

Macerated cardboard's thermal insulation characteristics are the specific process capability Pregis flagged as central to its fibre-based cold chain plans, and the company has indicated investment will follow.

What to watch

Pregis is privately held and no public filing is attached to the deal. The next confirmable milestone is capital deployment at the Indiana and Nebraska plants. EverTec reached more than one billion units a year across five locations after the 2020 acquisition; that precedent is what Pregis invoked when describing the cold chain buy.