Atlanta, Georgia based Hood Container Corporation, a family owned paperboard and specialty paper manufacturer with operations in containerboard, kraft paper, corrugated boxes, high-graphic displays and contract packaging, corrugated, folded box and displays, has purchased the U.S. Display and Packaging business of Hartsville, South Carolina based Sonoco for $80 million in cash.
Sonoco’s U.S. Display and Packaging business produced net sales of approximately $135 million in 2020 and provides point-of-purchase display design, manufacturing and fulfillment as well as contract packaging services for consumer product customers with more than 250 brands.
Based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the Display and Packaging business operates eight manufacturing and fulfillment facilities along with four sales and design centers and has approximately 450 employees.
“Our U.S. Display and Packaging business has been an industry pioneer with a legacy of providing innovative solutions for complex supply chain challenges,” said Howard Coker, Sonoco President and CEO. “However, Sonoco is focused on growing our core Consumer and Industrial packaging businesses around the world, and by divesting this business we expect to apply proceeds to further invest in ourselves while returning value to our shareholders.”
According to Zack’s Equity Research, Sonoco’s Display and Packaging business had been bearing the brunt of weak retail promotional display activity. In December 2020, the company sold its Display and Packaging segment’s contract packaging business in Europe to Prairie Industries Holdings for cash proceeds of $120 million. This divesture is expected to have unfavorably impacted the company’s bottom-line results during the March-end quarter.