Blaige Completes Strategic Sale of H.S. Crocker to TC Transcontinental

Blaige & Company announced the sale of H.S. Crocker Co., Inc., Illinois-based manufacturer of specialty packaging for pharmaceutical and food & beverage markets (“H.S. Crocker” or the “Company”) to Transcontinental Inc. (TC Transcontinental). The Company was advised by Blaige & Company. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

H.S. Crocker together with TC Transcontinental express their full commitment to strengthen and expand the continuing the success that H.S. Crocker has enjoyed over its remarkable history.

H.S. Crocker is one of North America’s oldest and most recognized names in packaging. Headquartered in Huntley, Illinois, with additional manufacturing in Exton, Pennsylvania, H.S. Crocker is a leading supplier of pressure-sensitive labels for pharmaceutical markets as well as portion pack lids for food, dairy, and other markets. Over its 165-year history, H.S. Crocker has earned a reputation for developing the capabilities and culture needed to consistently supply high quality packaging products to leading food, beverage, pharmaceutical, and consumer products manufacturers.

H.S. Crocker was founded in 1856 during the California Gold Rush as a supplier of tags to prospectors. It was founded by Henry Crocker, whose family migrated via covered wagon from Indiana to California, and whose brother, Charles Crocker, owned the Central Pacific Railroad (which built the western portion of the Transcontinental railroad), and also an early owner of Wells Fargo Bank/Crocker National Bank. H.S. Crocker was a pioneer in printing and donated the country’s first steam powered lithographic press to the Smithsonian. They also innovated many practices in security printing and packaging such as serialization of pharmaceutical labels.

Ron Giordano, Chairman and CEO of H.S. Crocker, commented on the transaction, “We went with Blaige & Company given their deeper understanding and experience with higher value packaging companies in the food, pharmaceutical and related industries. The Blaige process resulted in the achievement of a premium value which significantly exceeded our expectations.”

Blaige & Company CEO, Thomas Blaige, commented on the transaction, “We value the long-term relationship with the H.S. Crocker team. We have advised the Company on multiple flexible and rigid packaging transactions over two decades including printed pharmaceutical (ethical and OTC) paper, plastic and laminated pressure sensitive shrink sleeve, extended text/booklet labels, tags, inserts/outserts, and folding cartons; as well as printed and die cut foil and plastic laminated coffee/tea, dairy and chilled dessert lidding.”

TC Transcontinental is a leader in flexible packaging in North America, and Canada’s largest printer. The Corporation is also positioned as the leading Canadian French-language educational publishing group. For over 45 years, TC Transcontinental’s mission has been to create quality products and services that allow businesses to attract, reach and retain their target customers. Respect, teamwork, performance, and innovation are the strong values held by the Corporation and its employees. TC Transcontinental’s commitment to its stakeholders is to pursue its business activities in a responsible manner. Transcontinental has close to 8,000 employees, the majority of which are based in Canada, the United States and Latin America. TC Transcontinental had revenues of approximately C$2.6 billion for the fiscal year ended Oct. 25, 2020.

Blaige & Company, with offices in Miami and Chicago, is an investment bank dedicated exclusively to the packaging, plastics, and chemicals industries. The Blaige team has over 30 years of transaction experience, completed over 200 transactions, and visited over 600 packaging, plastics, and chemical operations all over the world. Blaige M&A deal research sets the industry standard. On average, Blaige & Company proprietary research department compiles and analyses over 500 worldwide packaging, plastics, and chemical industry transactions annually. Recently, London-based magazine Acquisition International named Mr. Blaige “Sector Focused C.E.O. of the Year”, and Blaige & Company “Sector Focused Investment Bank of the Year.”