In the past few years, the impact of private-equity firms and their growing number of purchases in the package-printing and converting industry has certainly been felt by makers of flexible packaging, paperboard, labels and substrates here at home and across Europe. According to BMO Capital Markets, private-equity (PE) money either by itself or as part of a portfolio company made up a quarter of all the mergers and acquisitions in the global packaging industry in 2006.

Some of the major deals in the past year:

* Smurfit-Stone Container's consumer-packaging business is bought by Texas Pacific Group for $1.04 billion in cash—June 30, 2006.

* Watermill Group purchased Polaroid's contract-coating unit, then renames it Multilayer Coating Technologies (specialty substrates)—August 10, 2006.

*Sun European Partners acquired flex-pack maker Autobar Packaging based in Paris (foodservice products)—Dec. 31, 2006.

* Klockner-Pentaplast bought by London's The Blackstone Group for $1.8 billion (flexible films and thermoform sheeting)—May 15, 2007.

* Mason Wells acquired flex-pack converter Oliver Medical (lidding, rollstock, pouches)—June 19, 2007.

But wait, what's this? Have the first chinks appeared in the armor of private-equity buyers? After initially moving ahead with an acquisition of Intertape Polymer Group (flex packs, p-s tapes and various films) back in May, Littlejohn & Co.'s deal was rejected by almost 70 percent of shareholders on June 28. They hadoffered $500 million including the assumption of $305 million in debt, so this was no minor transaction in the PE field. IPG shareholders either felt the offer was too low or thought to give a new board of directors one last chance—or both.

Private-equity acquisitions have been the saving grace of many a troubled company, infusing them with desperately needed capital for market and/or capacity expansion. But of all the deals we've reported on, this looks like the first sign that converters may be starting to rethink the “wholesale sell-out” to PE dollars.

It's A Material World: This month, editorial director John Kalkowski launches a new column addressing the challenges, trends and issues facing materials suppliers to the converting industry. Future columns will address specific market segments from resins, films and papers to inks, coatings and adhesives.