US-based Sonoco has continued its growth with the acquisition of Thermoform Engineered Quality and Plastique Holdings (TEQ) from ESCO Technologies for approximately $187 million. The businesses form the Technical Packaging segment of ESCO.

Headquartered in Illinois, TEQ posted sales of $88m in 2018 and operates three thermoforming and extrusion facilities in the US along with a thermoforming operation in the UK and one in Poland. TEQ’s portfolio includes thermoformed plastics packaging for healthcare, medical device and consumer markets.

“Recent studies value the global healthcare packaging market at approximately $33 billion, with healthy growth expected for the future,” said Rob Tiede, Sonoco’s chief executive. “Increased life expectancy, the steady introduction of new products from medical device manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies, combined with requirements for improved safety and compliance, are driving market growth.

“TEQ provides a strong platform to further expand Sonoco’s growing healthcare packaging business, which includes our ThermoSafe temperature-assured pharmaceutical packaging, injection-moulded vials, thermoformed trays for medical devices and OTC medical products, along with our Alloyd heat-sealing equipment for commercial medical applications.”

TEQ’s president Randy Loga commented: “The US and Europe will remain the largest consumers of healthcare packaging as new sophisticated therapies with specialised packaging needs continue to be introduced.”

Sonoco’s acquisition of TEQ is subject to regulatory review and projected to be completed by the end of 2019. TEQ’s financial results will be reported within Sonoco’s Consumer Packaging segment.