MINNEAPOLIS – Preferred Packaging and Crating, Inc., a Phoenix-based manufacturer of packaging products and supplies, has become part of the Minneapolis -based Liberty Diversified International (LDI) family of companies.
Preferred Packaging (PP) will continue to operate under its well-established brand name, manufacturing corrugated, wood and foam packaging solutions. PP is the most diverse packaging materials manufacturer in Arizona, and serves customers in the aerospace, manufacturing, distribution and consumer goods markets. The company also offers custom design services for point-of-purchase displays and sophisticated packaging.
Mike Fiterman, LDI’s Chairman and CEO, said, “This transaction with Preferred Packaging builds our packaging industry power in the southwest U.S., expanding our ability to serve customers in this region.”
Fiterman said PP will become part of LDI’s Packaging South Group, headquartered in the San Diego area under the leadership of LDI Vice President Bob Walton.
He said that PP’s co-owner, Mike Eagleton, will join the LDI team and will help provide continuity to PP customers and employees during the business transition. Mike’s wife and fellow co-owner, Andi Eagleton, will also remain with the company.
Fiterman said, “Like our firm, PP is a family-owned business with like-minded approaches to taking care of customers, employees and the community.”
Mike Eagleton said, “In LDI, we found a partner that shares our business values, a crucial element to our decision-making in this transaction.”
According to Andi Eagleton, “It was very important to us that our employees would continue to be employed and have long-term growth opportunities. LDI, a 100-year-old company, offered both.”
PP’s approximately 70 employees will be offered employment with LDI. The current primary manufacturing plant, about 11 miles west of Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix, will remain in operation under a lease arrangement. The facility covers approximately 175,000 sq. ft.
LDI’s profile as a premier player in the packaging industry continues to expand, with facilities in Minnesota, Nebraska, Texas, California, the Quad Cities area, Mexico, and now Arizona.
Because each of the companies are privately held, the purchase price was not disclosed.