Private Equity Firms & Paper, Print Industries

Private Equity Firm Gets Banged up by Commercial Print Deal: Private equity firms love the paper and package printing industries, but spurn further relationships with commercial printing companies. Atlas Holdings, the fund behind recycled fiber tissue manufacturer Soundview Paper Company (née Marcal) joined Blue Wolf Capital, its co-investor in Finch Paper, to acquire Twin Rivers Paper. Twin Rivers manufactures packaging, label and publishing papers in New Brunswick, Canada, and Maine. In an apparently unrelated coincidence of names and products, Peak Rock Capital acquired Atlas Paper Mills, a manufacturer of tissue from recycled fibers in Miami, FL. Private equity giant, H.I.G. Capital, acquired Caraustar Industries, a manufacturer of paperboard products and printer of folding cartons. Nekoosa Coated Products, backed by Wingate Partners, moved further away from commercial printing paper with the completion of its acquisition of IGI Corporation which manufactures specialty printing and masking substrates. These deals continue the steady flow of PE-backed deals in the paper industry, with new nuptials every month to date this year.