TricorBraun acquires Canada-based RODA Packaging

At the start of 2021, TricorBraun shared news of a stock purchase agreement with the Los Angeles, California – based private equity group Ares Management and one of the world’s largest institutional investors, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board​. This month that deal closed.

And as is  the case with investor-owned businesses, growth was already in the works: “With the completion of our investment in TricorBraun, we are looking forward to taking the next step in partnering with the Company, Ontario Teachers’ and AEA,”​ Brian Klos, Partner in Ares’ Private Equity Group, told the press last Thursday. “We are excited about working with the talented team at TricorBraun as we look to build upon the Company’s success and history of growth.”​

Now under new ownership, TricorBraun has completed its own acquisition deal, buying the decades old rigid packaging supply company RODA Packaging.

“We are very impressed by the strong company Stéphan Berthiaume and his team have built,” ​says Court Carruthers, President and CEO of TricorBraun, in a press release about the acquisition.

“And with our combined expertise,”​ he says, “we will service the needs of Quebec-based businesses, along with the customers we support across North America. We are excited to welcome RODA to the TricorBraun family.”​

TricorBraun’s latest deal is about regional expansion

The RODA Packaging acquisition is acquiring customers and further access to the Eastern Canada packaging market. RODA is a distribution company serving the chemicals, sealants, and adhesives industries as well as the beverage, spices, and apothecary / nutraceuticals industries.

Initially, the company name will change slightly to RODA, a TricorBraun company; but much will remain the same. Stéphan Berthiaume (the company’s previous owner) will stay on as CEO, the RODA team will stay in place too and will continue operating the existing RODA facility in Quebec.

“For almost 40 years, RODA Packaging and its dedicated team have been instrumental to the packaging supply chain,”​ Berthiaume say in this week’s press release.

“We are excited to join TricorBraun and look forward to this next chapter,”​ he says, adding that, “Our shared focus on customer service, quality and operational excellence, along with TricorBraun’s broader supplier base and multiple locations, will allow RODA to explore its full potential and offer a more complete range of services to its customers.”  ​

A bigger product portfolio and customer base for TricorBraun

While the RODA acquisition deal doesn’t directly expand the company’s cosmetics and personal care business (at least not in the conventional topical products space), it does open up market access for the supplier.

And TricorBraun already has a wide assortment of beauty packaging containers, closures, and decorating services. The company makes both plastic and glass packaging, as well as flexible packaging solutions like pouches and spout bags, cap closures, sprayers, and pump. Additionally, TricorBraun offers design and engineering services to help develop and commercialize custom packaging too.