Key Takeaways
- • KPS Capital Partners agreed on Monday, November 10, 2026 to acquire a 70% stake in MM Packaging from Mayr-Melnhof Karton AG (MM Group) at an enterprise value of 2.4 billion euros (about $2.68 billion), per Packaging Dive.
- • MM Group retains a 30% stake, which could be reduced to 20% if certain earnings targets next year are not met; MM Packaging will become a standalone company at closing.
- • MM Group expects net cash of 800 million to 900 million euros at closing, earmarked for debt repayment and a 500 million to 600 million euro special distribution to shareholders.
- • MM Packaging operates from 50 sites across 19 countries in MM Group's broader footprint, with six U.S. plants and a focus on food, beverage, beauty, personal care and pharmaceutical packaging.
- • The deal is the latest 2026 packaging spinoff and private equity partnership, following Silgan's transaction with American Industrial Partners.
Summary
New York-based private equity firm KPS Capital Partners announced an agreement on Monday to acquire a 70% stake in MM Packaging, the folding carton business of Austrian fiber packaging manufacturer Mayr-Melnhof Karton AG, known as MM Group. The enterprise value is 2.4 billion euros, about $2.68 billion, according to Packaging Dive's report. MM Group will retain the remaining 30% stake, which could fall to 20% if certain earnings targets next year are not met. MM Group stated that the packaging business "already operates largely independently," and that it will become a standalone company upon closing.
MM Group is a global board, paper and packaging manufacturer with 50 sites in 19 countries, including six U.S. plants in Indianapolis, North Carolina and Puerto Rico. MM Packaging makes folding cartons, labels, leaflets and printed aluminum foil for food and beverage, beauty and personal care, and household care end markets. MM describes itself as the world's largest producer of secondary pharmaceutical packaging, a segment that Packaging Dive notes is accelerating with growth in GLP-1 medications.
Michael Psaros, co-founder and co-managing partner of KPS, said in a statement that MM Packaging is "an industry-leading business" and that KPS would leverage its packaging sector experience across paper, board and metal substrates to drive growth. KPS previously held Eviosys, a carve-out from Crown Holdings in 2021 that it sold to Sonoco for $3.8 billion in 2024, and Anchor Glass, which it sold in 2016 to CVC Capital Partners and BA Glass for more than $1 billion.
MM Group said it expects net cash of 800 million to 900 million euros at transaction close, which will fund debt repayment and a 500 million to 600 million euro special distribution to shareholders. Its board and paper business, which has been pressured this year by "persistent market overcapacity" and "sharply rising energy costs" according to a recent quarterly report, will supply cartonboard to MM Packaging under a long-term agreement.
The transaction follows other 2026 packaging restructurings. Last month, Silgan announced a complex deal with American Industrial Partners that combines its metal containers and food and beverage flat-cap closures businesses with newly acquired Trivium Packaging, giving Silgan 60% and AIP 40% of the new company.
MM Group is a global board, paper and packaging manufacturer with 50 sites in 19 countries, including six U.S. plants in Indianapolis, North Carolina and Puerto Rico. MM Packaging makes folding cartons, labels, leaflets and printed aluminum foil for food and beverage, beauty and personal care, and household care end markets. MM describes itself as the world's largest producer of secondary pharmaceutical packaging, a segment that Packaging Dive notes is accelerating with growth in GLP-1 medications.
Michael Psaros, co-founder and co-managing partner of KPS, said in a statement that MM Packaging is "an industry-leading business" and that KPS would leverage its packaging sector experience across paper, board and metal substrates to drive growth. KPS previously held Eviosys, a carve-out from Crown Holdings in 2021 that it sold to Sonoco for $3.8 billion in 2024, and Anchor Glass, which it sold in 2016 to CVC Capital Partners and BA Glass for more than $1 billion.
MM Group said it expects net cash of 800 million to 900 million euros at transaction close, which will fund debt repayment and a 500 million to 600 million euro special distribution to shareholders. Its board and paper business, which has been pressured this year by "persistent market overcapacity" and "sharply rising energy costs" according to a recent quarterly report, will supply cartonboard to MM Packaging under a long-term agreement.
The transaction follows other 2026 packaging restructurings. Last month, Silgan announced a complex deal with American Industrial Partners that combines its metal containers and food and beverage flat-cap closures businesses with newly acquired Trivium Packaging, giving Silgan 60% and AIP 40% of the new company.
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