ProAmpac acquires International Paper’s bag converting division

ProAmpac has acquired the bag converting operations of International Paper (IP), expanding the flexible packaging company’s converting capabilities and enabling quicker customized bag solutions for grocery, convenience store, and quick-service restaurant markets.

Greg Tucker, ProAmpac founder, vice chairman, and CEO, says: “Global demand for reliable, recyclable paper packaging continues to grow rapidly amid evolving consumer expectations and market trends redefining recyclability.”

“ProAmpac’s acquisition of IP’s bag operation supports our Fiberization of Packaging initiatives, helping us better serve customers by extending our expertise in material science to the US West Coast with additional capabilities and redundancies.”

IP operates bag manufacturing facilities in three US states — California, Oregon, and Texas — specializing in customizable, premium kraft bags such as shopping bags, self-opening sacks, and smaller format options. 

While neither party disclosed the terms of the transaction, ProAmpac says the acquisition strengthens its production capacity and ability to support new and existing customers.

ProAmpac and IP have global supply chains. At the start of the year, IP and DS Smith combined their businesses to establish a “global leader” in sustainable packaging solutions, with a regional focus on North America and EMEA.

Paper progress

At Fachpack 2025, ProAmpac presented a range of fiber solutions, including the RAP Sandwich Wedge for food-to-go and the ProActive Recyclable FibreSculpt kerbside recyclable trays (in the UK and Ireland).

“We’re still pushing the fiberization of many traditional plastic products,” says Maddison. “We’re enabling our customers to choose to either go down a fiber-based or a plastic-based route, depending on which suits their actual end use more,” Lynsey Maddison, product development director at ProAmpac, told Packaging Insights.

Recently, ProAmpac collaborated with Divilly Brothers to introduce ProActive Recyclable FibreSculpt to the Irish chilled cooked meat market. It also launched its ProActive recycle-ready, polyolefin-based films for high-speed chunk cheese packaging.