Since the Warburg-Pincus majority stake investment in Parksons Packaging in April 2021, the Mumbai-based company has embarked on an expansion and consolidation of the Indian monocarton industry with the acquisition and merger of Manohar Packaging, MK Printpack, and Fortuner Packaging. Together with acquisitions, the company has in each case established a process of integrating the new plants into its systems and processes as well as increasing their individual monocarton production capacities and technology levels. Apart from building a cohesive culture, it has in the main, added well-configured brand-new KBA multicolor offset presses with coaters and new Bobst converting lines consisting of diecutters and folder gluers.
Manohar Packaging’s plants in Goa and Punjab, specializing in folding cartons for the alcoholic beverages segment, were acquired in November 2021 while Parksons acquired MK Printpack with its plants in Silvassa on 27 March 2023. The acquisition of MK Printpack is expected to further strengthen and augment Parksons Packaging’s capacity in ‘fluted packaging’ also known as litho-laminated micro-fluted packaging.
And then within a week, Parksons Packaging acquired Fortuner Packaging in a slump sale on 5 April 2023. With thirteen manufacturing facilities across Daman, Chakan, Gujarat, and Goa in Western India; Haridwar, Pantnagar, Rajpura in Punjab, and Baddi in Himachal Pradesh in the North; Guwahati in the Northeast; and, SriCity in South India, the Mumbai-based monocarton giant is aiming to enhance its pan-India footprint with production plants in almost all the states.
The Parksons Packaging plant based in Mumbai“The theme is to think big. Over a period of time, we will have factories across all parts of the country making sure we get closer to customers. Compliance, ethics, work culture, and technology are at the heart of these consolidations of the carton industry. This strategic move pushes us ahead of the curve enabling us to tend to the requirements of our customers no matter where they are within the country,” said Amit Taneja, COO of Parksons, on our recent visit to the Manohar plant.
According to Taneja, with the concurrent theme, consolidation becomes a highlight of Parksons’ plans with more plans to come for the international markets, “We are also thinking of expanding abroad but that will be discussed at a later point in time,” he said. The recent additions of two factories of Manohar packaging, three factories of MK Printpack, and two of Fortuner’s comprise an ongoing integration and modernization project. The second KBA 7-color plus coater full UV press was recently installed at the Manohar plant. At the Fortuner plant in Baddi, a new converting line consisting of a Bobst Novacut 106 diecutter and an Expertfold folder gluer was installed in June. The new KBA 6-color plus coater press was just inaugurated on 23 August 2023.
Taneja elaborated that consolidation is the first step in a series of processes to follow. He said “Systems enforcement becomes a significant part of the process of making sure that the entire organization grows uniformly. The synergy needs to be maintained in the additional seven factories and the integration of processes needs to follow a structured pattern. SAP (systems, applications, and products) implementations are already done in the Fortuner plant. We’re at the last phase with the Manohar plant and MK Printpack is the next one in line.”
“It is not just a business integration but a cultural integration as well,” Taneja adds. “Policies, practices, and systems need to be focused upon to make sure these seven factories can also commit expertise on the same level as we are now. Consolidation is undoubtedly a long process but the quantum of work is known to us. Given the size of these acquisitions, maintaining the synergy will be time-consuming but that again corresponds to our integration theme – and ultimately the amount of services we will be able to provide our customers will be a game changer in the folding carton industry.”
The acquisitions of the seven factories not only enhance Parksons’ production capacities and country-wide footprint, but also enable the company to expand and deepen the pharma, alcobev, and other market segments in which the acquired companies previously specialized. Going forward, sustainable practices will also be a part of the cultural integration with Parksons expanding overseas as well.
