Opus Packaging Group adds to portfolio with deal for Illinois firm

 

CALEDONIA — Opus Packaging Group Inc. is expanding its packaging facilities portfolio with the acquisition of a fourth company, Wabash Container Corp. of Illinois.

Kevin Manor, owner of Caledonia-based Opus Packaging Group, told MiBiz the company “was actively looking to expand” its manufacturing footprint throughout the Midwest.  

“We found a strategic fit with Wabash Container’s manufacturing capabilities and culture of treating their associates like family,” he said.

Wabash Container, a 25-year-old corrugated sheet conversion plant, is headquartered in Mount Carmel, Ill. Since 2006, it has been under the family ownership of Steve and Leann Burton. Steve Burton will become an employee of Opus and continue directing day-to-day operations at Wabash Container, according to a statement.

Wabash Container currently employs fewer than 50 people while operating out of approximately 90,000 square feet at one manufacturing facility and two offsite warehouses.

In addition to Wabash Container, Opus Packaging Group operates Ohio-based Safeway Packaging Inc. and Action Packaging LLC plants in Grand Rapids and Jackson, Mich.

The company also plans to open a manufacturing facility in Indianapolis in June 2019, according to a statement.