Alpha Packaging has announced the acquisition of Vanga Products (Plastics) Inc. of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, to expand Alpha’s blow moulding capacity in the Pacific Northwest. Vanga is a manufacturer of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and jars for the nutritional, pharmaceutical, household chemical and food markets.

Alpha Packaging is a manufacturer of HDPE and PET bottles and jars for the nutritional, pharmaceutical, personal care, household chemical, and niche food and beverage markets. In addition, Alpha’s Technigraph decorating division provides environmentally-friendly container decorating services to leading personal care brands. Irving Place Capital, a middle-market private equity firm, acquired Alpha Packaging in September 2010.

Vanga has approximately sixty employees and operates twenty-three blow molding machines in a 60,000 square foot manufacturing and warehouse facility. Manufacturing processes include Injection Blow Molding (IBM) and Extrusion Blow Molding (EBM) for HDPE, and Injection Stretch Blow Molding (ISBM) for PET products. The combination of Alpha and Vanga provides customers an extensive product range and service capability, supported by a nationwide network of 8 manufacturing facilities in North America and 1 in Europe.

Phil Yates, Alpha Packaging’s Chairman and CEO, said, “Vanga has a strong reputation as a high-quality supplier in the Northwest Pacific region and represents an excellent opportunity for Alpha to extend its manufacturing footprint in this market. We are excited to make available our expanded product line to both Vanga and Alpha customers.”

“Alpha’s acquisition growth strategy is to acquire successful companies whose product lines, customers and plant locations complement our existing infrastructure,” said Dan Creston, Alpha Packaging’s Chief Operating Officer. “Alpha already has considerable business in the Pacific Northwest, most of which is currently served by our Salt Lake City and Midwest locations. With this key addition to our footprint, we will be looking for ways to optimize our manufacturing operations by strategically locating our tooling and equipment.”

“The Vanga stock product line is an excellent fit for our existing customer base, and we are now well positioned to capture more market share in the Western portion of North America,” said Brian McCarthy, Alpha’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Business Development. “The two companies share some of their largest customers and have similar capabilities, so the integration will be relatively seamless for both our customers and our sales team.” 

Vanga Products was founded by Gerry VanGaalen, who will retire from the company in connection with the transaction. Vanga’s plant will begin operating as a branch of Alpha effective immediately.