Greif completes acquisition of Lee Container

After first announcing the deal in November, Delaware, Ohio-based packaging producer Greif has completed the $300 million acquisition of Lee Container Corp., a high-performance barrier and conventional blow-molded container manufacturer.

Greif says the cash transaction was funded through its existing credit facility, and it estimates it will be able to achieve at least $6 million in synergies and performance improvements within the next two years through the integration of Lee Container’s operations.

“Completion of this acquisition is very exciting for both companies,” Greif President and CEO Ole Rosgaard says. “Lee is a premier organization and fits perfectly within the strategic parameters of our repeatable M&A [merger and acquisition] playbook.

“We foresee abundant opportunities to continue growing Lee organically as well as seeking add-on acquisitions to further broaden our footprint in jerrycans and small plastics.”

Lee Container, headquartered in Homerville, Georgia, primarily serves the agricultural, specialty chemical, oil and lubricant and pet care sectors in North America, operating three manufacturing facilities with locations in Homerville; Centerville, Iowa; and Nacogdoches, Texas, with 500 employees across the United States.

All Lee Container products are 100-percent recyclable, and Greif said during a 2022 earnings presentation that the move provides a platform for future growth and favorable exposure to growing agricultural and specialty chemicals end markets. Grief also notes that Lee Container’s product lines will provide immediate further diversification to its global portfolio and accelerate the company’s shift into less cyclical end-market exposures.

“The expected acquisition of Lee Container will help further drive margin-accretive growth,” Rosgaard said at the time of the announcement in November.

Greif will report Lee Container’s financial results within its Global Industrial Packaging (GIP) segment. In the company’s most recent report, it notes that rapid steel cost declines pressured the GIP segment and it expects the trend to continue into 2023 and says sales decreased this year by $126.7 million.