The $8.4-billion acquisition of Evansville-based Berry Global Group by Swiss company Amcor announced Nov. 19 means the city will lose a corporate headquarters, but its buyer says the company still will have a local workforce.
Founded in Evansville in 1967, Berry first was known as Imperial Plastics. It made aerosol overcaps using one injection molding machine.
Over the next 57 years, the companyย โ which became known as Berry Plastics Corp. in 1982 after its purchase by Jack Berry Sr. โ blossomed into a worldwide operation with more than 240 sites and 40,000-plus workers.
Despite Berry Globalโs immense reach โ officials changed the word โPlasticsโ in its corporate name to โGlobalโ in 2017 to emphasize its expansion far outside the River City โ the company maintains a workforce of more than 2,400 in its home region.
Berryโs growing portfolio obviously caught Amcorโs eye. Both companies make packaging products used in multiple industries โ food and beverage, pharmaceutical and medical, and home and personal care.
The acquisition means Berryโs headquarters will relocate from Oakley Street in Evansville to Zurich, Switzerland, when the transaction closes in mid-2025. The Nov. 19 news release states the combined company โexpects to maintain a significant presence in Evansville.โ
Kevin Kwilinski, who began his tenure as CEO of Berry Global in October 2023, describes the merger with Amcor as โa logical next step in our companyโs evolutionโ and says it will โdeliver even more value to our shareholders.โ
โWe expect to better serve customers through a comprehensive and innovative consumer packaging portfolio and a complementary geographic coverage,โ Kwilinksi says in the release. โImportantly Berry and Amcor have aligned philosophies focused on safety, employee experience, sustainability, innovation, customer intimacy, and functional excellence. We will be better together, and I look forward to all we will achieve as a combined organization.โ
A report on the merger published by Reuters states that โa sharp slowdown in demand for packaging material following a boom fueled by e-commerce during the pandemic has sparked consolidation in the sector.โ
News of corporate mergers often bring uncertainties, but Evansville Regional Economic Partnership CEO Lloyd Winnecke says thereโs no reason to believe Amcor will not keep Berry Globalโs longstanding Southwestern Indiana ties.
Winnecke noted the news release announcing the merger mentions only two cities โ Zurich and Evansville.
โWhile we wonโt be able to brag about the headquarters being here, I think at the end of the day, the most important thing is they will maintain their significant employment, design and manufacturing presence in Evansville,โ Winnecke says.
Winnecke, Evansvilleโs mayor from 2012 to 2023, says his administration and others completed projects over the years that assisted Berry Global, such as improvements along Mary and Division streets, which improved rail access to Berryโs Oakley Street facility.
That work, Winnecke says, โallowed Berry to flourish and create the foundation for a really strong entity that will remain here for years to come.โ
Berry, Winnecke says, โis a legacy corporation here in Evansvilleโ like British and Dutch-owned Reckitt (known prior to 2017 as Mead Johnson) and, many years ago, Whirlpool Corp.
โPeople appreciate the fact that Berry has been a strong corporate citizen, active in philanthropy and the business community,โ Winnecke says. โOur community, and Berryโs workforce, take great pride in that. We have every reason to think that will continue.โ
The plastics manufacturer also announced Nov. 25 that it plans to sell its specialty tapes business to Rhode Island-based private equity firm Nautic Partners, LLC for approximately $540 million. A press release says Berry Global intends to use proceeds from the transaction to pay down outstanding debt.
