M&A Awards 2026: PPC Flex acquires Koen Pack (Best Deal Small Cap 2026)

Deal Outline: 

In September 2026, DEX advised the shareholders of Koen Pack on its sale to PPC Flex. PPC Flex is a US flexible packaging company headquartered in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, and owned by the private equity firm GTCR. The acquisition was announced on 1 September 2026. 

  

Why This Deal Should Win the Award for Best Deal Small-Cap 2026: 

Sale of Koen Pack to GTCR-backed PPC Flex 

In September 2026, DEX advised the shareholders of Koen Pack on its sale to PPC Flex. PPC Flex is a US flexible packaging company headquartered in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, and owned by the private equity firm GTCR. The acquisition was announced on 1 September 2026. 

Koen Pack is a family-owned designer and supplier of packaging and decorative products for the floral and plant industry. It was founded in 1996 by Koen and Cristol Broekhuizen and is based in Amstelveen. Its customers are wholesalers, growers and retailers, and the group has operations and offices in Europe, the United States, Canada and Colombia. Over almost 30 years the founders built it into an international business while keeping its family character. 

The buyer, PPC Flex, has grown largely through acquisitions since it was founded in 2016. GTCR acquired the company in 2021 with the intention of continuing its consolidation of high-quality flexible packaging businesses. Floral packaging was already one of PPC Flex's markets, and the two companies had known each other for decades. That made Koen Pack a logical addition, giving PPC Flex a European platform and design capabilities in a segment it already served. 

The shareholders had a clear objective: a full exit. They wanted to sell with no reinvestment, no earn-out and no long transition period obligations. In private equity transactions this is uncommon, because sponsors and their portfolio companies usually want sellers to keep some exposure to future performance. Reaching a clean exit meant preparing the company well in advance, so that its value could be demonstrated independently of the founders, and keeping that position consistent throughout the negotiations. 

The main complexity was the scale of our client's operations. Headquartered in the Netherlands, it operates in 4 countries across 3 continents and in 2 languages. On one side of the transaction was an owner-managed company with multiple complex group entities in four jurisdictions. On the other was a buyer backed by one of the largest private equity funds in the world, with a corresponding approach to due diligence, documentation and governance. We coordinated financial, legal, tax and operational due diligence across the Dutch, US, Canadian and Colombian businesses, managed the virtual dataroom, and acted as the central point of contact between the shareholders, the company, the buyer and the advisors on both sides. In total, the transaction included 81 advisors from PwC to Loyens & Loeff to Kirkland & Ellis and GTCR, managed by a 3-man DEX deal team. A large part of our role was translating the buyer's process requirements into a workload a family business could manage, without letting the timeline slip. 

The transaction was signed and completed on the terms the shareholders set out to achieve. In the announcement, PPC Flex emphasised the shared values of the two companies. The founders said they were confident the business was in good hands, noting that the companies had been a good fit commercially and culturally for many years. 

Impact of This Deal on the Company: 

Koen Pack now has a long-term owner that understands its market. PPC Flex has served the floral industry for decades and has the backing of GTCR to keep investing. As part of a larger group, Koen Pack gets access to more resources, broader retail knowledge and a bigger platform. Its own identity as a design-led business with a personal approach to customers stays intact. 

  

Impact of This Deal on Direct Stakeholders: 

For Koen and Cristol Broekhuizen, the deal meant a full and clean exit after almost thirty years. They were able to step away entirely, with certainty, and with confidence that the business is in good hands. For the employees, it means continuity under an owner that values the same things the company was built on. For customers in Europe and the Americas, it means the same team and service, backed by a stronger and more stable organisation. 

  

Impact of This Deal on Society: 

The deal shows that a Dutch family business can find a good long-term home through a sale, without having to choose between the founders' interests and the company's future. It keeps a design-driven floral packaging business, and the jobs connected to it, active and growing in a sector closely tied to the Dutch floriculture industry. With the support of a larger group, Koen Pack is also better placed to keep developing more sustainable packaging, an area it has already been working on. 

  

Most Complex Aspect of This Deal: 

The hardest part was bringing together two very different worlds. One was a founder-led family business with entities in the Netherlands, the United States, Canada and Colombia. The other was a buyer used to the extensive due diligence, documentation and governance of large-cap private equity. We had to coordinate due diligence across four jurisdictions while keeping the process manageable for a team that still had a business to run. Throughout, we also had to hold firm on the family's wish for a clean exit, which is not something a private equity-backed buyer usually agrees to. 

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