Atlantic Ridge Wraps Up Paragon in its First Deal

Atlantic Ridge Capital has agreed to acquire Paragon Films, a maker of plastic film that is wrapped around pallets of goods before they ship, from Rhône Group for approximately $900 million.

Paragon is Atlantic Ridge's first investment. The New York firm is buying the business in partnership with Paragon's management team and Grafine Partners, which backed Atlantic Ridge at its formation. Atlantic Ridge will be Paragon's fourth private equity owner since 2016.

Paragon Films makes stretch film, the plastic wrap that warehouse workers and wrapping machines wind around a loaded pallet so boxes and bottles stay put on a truck. Its machine films include Nexus, its flagship; Global Force, an everyday film; Contrast, a slippery film that lets wrapped pallets rub together without tearing; and Cold Force, made for freezers and dusty sites.



Paragon also sells hand films, applied by a worker walking a roll around a pallet, under the Edge, Spartan, Titus and Torque brands. Specialty films include versions with ultraviolet inhibitors for loads stored outdoors, and Ultimate Force, which wraps pallets of empty plastic bottles and cans for bottlers. The company sells through distributors to more than 20,000 end users in food and beverage, consumer products, e-commerce, retail and industrial markets. It serves customers in all 50 states as well as Canada, Mexico and South America.

Paragon's pitch is thinner film that holds as well as thicker film. Its proprietary resin formulations and multi-layer casting process let customers secure a load with a lighter-gauge wrap, sold under the tagline "Thinner. Stronger. Greener." The company says customers typically use 20% to 40% less film and save 20% to 30% in cost.

Recent product work has centered on recycled content. Paragon launched Power Edge PCR, a hand film made with 10% or 25% post-consumer recycled plastic, in 2023 and Beyond PCR, a machine film with the same recycled content, in 2024. More recently it has carried its thin-gauge approach into shrink film, the wrap that tightens around a product when heated.

Paragon was founded in Tulsa in 1988 by Mike Baab. It opened a second plant in Taylorsville, North Carolina, in 2005 and a third in Union Gap, Washington, in 2013. In 2025 it bought a facility in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, to serve Mexico, Central America and South America.



Today, Paragon is led by CEO Darin Tang and is headquartered about 15 miles southeast of Tulsa in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. "Atlantic Ridge’s principals bring deep experience in helping industrial technology companies scale, together with a practical suite of operational expertise and resources," said Mr. Tang. “They share our ambition to extend Paragon’s leadership in innovation and customer value. Their partnership will help us accelerate product development in our core stretch film business and in thin-gauge shrink film as well as expand into new product categories, broaden our PCR-based offering, invest in AI and automation to strengthen our capabilities, and pursue acquisitions that bring Paragon’s technology to new geographies."

Mr. Tang's tenure tracks Paragon's run of private equity owners. In December 2016, Wind Point Partners partnered with Mr. Tang, previously senior vice president of packaging at Veritiv, to buy Paragon from Mr. Baab. Wind Point agreed in March 2019 to sell the business to Wellspring Capital Management.



Rhône acquired Paragon from Wellspring in December 2021. Under Rhône’s ownership, Paragon expanded its North Carolina plant by 70,000 square feet in 2023, introduced recycled-content product lines, and added a plant in Mexico equipped with film-making machinery from German manufacturer Windmöller & Hölscher.

The stretch and shrink film market totaled about $7.6 billion worldwide in 2025, according to Global Market Insights, which puts US sales at about $2.1 billion. Stretch film accounted for about $4.7 billion of the global total and shrink film about $2.9 billion. Global Market Insights expects shrink film to grow faster, at about 6.2% a year through 2035.

The research firm points to e-commerce and last-mile delivery, which have increased demand for machine-applied stretch film, and to cold-chain growth for food and pharmaceuticals. It also cites multi-layer extrusion and pre-stretch technology, the same downgauging that underpins Paragon's product line. The market is concentrated with Global Market Insights estimating that the top five producers held about 48.5% of the market in 2025.

Private equity is also present. Intertape Polymer Group, a Florida-based packaging maker that Clearlake Capital acquired in 2022, bought Clysar, an Iowa-based shrink film maker, earlier this month.

[caption id="attachment_241870" align="alignright" width="120"] Eytan Tigay[/caption]

The acquisition gives Atlantic Ridge a technology-driven specialty packaging platform with four plants, a recycled-content product line and an early position in thin-gauge shrink film from which to pursue acquisitions abroad. "We have known Paragon and Darin for years and are excited to support his team and bring our experience and operational resources to bear as the company continues to grow," said Eytan Tigay, the founder and chief executive officer of Atlantic Ridge. "Paragon is the ideal inaugural investment for Atlantic Ridge and exemplifies the strategy we founded the firm to pursue: partnering with exceptional management teams to scale, improve and modernize high-quality industrial technology businesses."

Mr. Tigay began his career as an M&A advisor at Lazard in 1989, was a founding member of Lazard Capital Partners in 1997 and in 2007 became chief investment officer of a New York and London private equity firm managing more than $8 billion.

New York City-based Atlantic Ridge makes control and minority equity investments of $50 million to $250 million in North America-based companies with EBITDA of at least $15 million. Sectors of interest include technical materials, specialty packaging, advanced capital goods and components, security and safety, specialty distribution and specialized business-to-business services.

Grafine anchors first-time private equity firms launched by experienced dealmakers, taking a share of their revenues and co-investment rights for its investors. It closed its first fund, Grafine Capital I, above target in May 2024 with $600 million in commitments. Grafine was founded in 2019 by Managing Partner Elizabeth Weymouth and is headquartered in New York City.

Rhône invests in middle-market industrial and consumer businesses on both sides of the Atlantic, specializing in corporate carve-outs and partnerships with founding families and entrepreneurs. It is currently investing from its sixth fund, raised in 2022, and has raised about €10 billion, or roughly $11.5 billion, across more than 45 portfolio companies.  Rhône was founded in 1996 by Chairman Robert Agostinelli and CEO Steven Langman, both formerly cross-border M&A bankers at Goldman Sachs and Lazard, and has offices in New York, London, Madrid and Milan.

BMO Capital Markets and Santander Corporate & Investment Banking were the financial advisors to Atlantic Ridge. UBS Investment Bank, BMO and Santander provided committed debt financing for the transaction.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.