Berlin Packaging (berlinpackaging.com) today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Italy-based Bruni Glass (bruniglass.com) in a transaction that will significantly expand Berlin's premium glass portfolio, extend its footprint into key European markets, and push the combined company's 2016 global sales past the $1.2 billion mark. Once the transaction closes, Bruni's team will operate as Bruni Glass, A Berlin Packaging Company, and will have access to Berlin's full line of packaging solutions, service divisions, and its 100+ North American sales and warehouse locations.

With offices in Italy, France, Spain, China, Canada, and the U.S., Bruni has a 42-year track record, $150+ million in annual sales, and an innovative collection of glass packages designed in-house for spirits, wine, food, and gourmet applications. The custom lineup spans more than 3,000 SKUs, including patented shapes with various capacities and colors, plus seasonal and promotional items ranging from maple leaf- to Christmas tree-shaped packages. New offerings are added on a monthly basis.

The acquisition will be Berlin Packaging's first in Europe, third in the past year and seventh since 2010. These strategic transactions augment Berlin's double-digit organic growth and strengthen the company by adding to product depth and breadth, geographic coverage, and capabilities that help customers increase sales and profitability.

The Bruni Glass acquisition will deliver substantial benefits to customers and suppliers of both companies, including:

  • Thousands of new packaging options – Berlin customers gain access to exclusive Bruni-designed glass containers and closing systems, adding to the large selection of custom and stock glass solutions already in Berlin's catalog. At the same time, Bruni customers will be able to fulfill their glass, plastic, and metal packaging and closure needs from a single source by tapping into Berlin's 35,000+ SKUs, including lab supplies and packaging for shipping hazardous materials.
     
  • Enhanced expertise in key vertical markets – Bruni's focus on packaging for the spirits, wine, food, and gourmet sectors joins Berlin's presence in food, beverage, pharma, personal care, household care, and industrial packaging, bolstering Berlin's ability to help customers optimize package solutions in a wide range of industry segments.
     
  • Access to Berlin's profit-building services – Bruni customers will be able to take advantage of Berlin's warehousing, structural and brand design, capital lending, and quality consulting services at no charge in exchange for new packaging business.
     
  • Global expansion opportunities for customers – The combination of Berlin's sales and warehouse presence in more than 100 North American locations and Bruni's footprint in major European countries offers customers on both continents vital logistics support for penetrating global markets.
     
  • New sales opportunities for suppliers – Both Berlin and Bruni suppliers will have access to a combined 200-person sales force in North America and Europe as well as a database of qualified packaging customers and prospects that has grown to 75,000+. Berlin also helps suppliers land new business with a powerful marketing engine that builds demand and strong warehousing and logistics programs that handle customer inventories reliably and efficiently.

All parties also will benefit from Berlin's strong operational backbone, including ISO 9001 certification and a world-class Oracle system that together have produced an industry-leading 148 consecutive months of 99+% on-time delivery for customers. This performance helps everyone in the supply chain reduce inventory levels and lower expenses.

"Combining Berlin and Bruni is an important building block in our quest to be the strongest, broadest, and most customer-centric packaging supplier in the market," says Andrew Berlin, chairman and CEO of Berlin Packaging. "It not only strengthens our glass offerings and extends our reach to a global playing field, but it also aligns us with another company that shares our commitment to quality, our insistence on compelling package design, and our strong annual growth rate."

All of Bruni's employees and locations will be retained in this process. "There will be no disruption as part of our integration," adds Berlin. "Customer and suppliers can expect to work with the same people with the same entrepreneurial, can-do spirit."

"Specialty glass has been our stock in trade for more than four decades, and joining forces with a glass/plastic/metal packaging powerhouse like Berlin offers new opportunities for business growth that will benefit our customers and suppliers as well as our employees," says Gino Del Bon, executive chairman of Bruni Glass. "With our entire team soon to be working under the Berlin umbrella, including myself, my brother and Bruni CEO, Roberto Del Bon, and the rest of the management team, we will be supplying the same creative package solutions and level of customer service but as part of a larger organization that can meet a wider range of needs."