Alpha Packaging, a leading blow molder of plastic bottles and jars for the pharmaceutical, nutritional supplement and personal care industries, has just announced the acquisition of Yorkbridge Packaging Northeast, a plastic bottle manufacturer located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The purchase closed on December 21, 2005, and is Alpha’s second acquisition in the Northeastern United States in less than five years. It is also its first major investment since the White Plains, N.Y.-based private equity firm Stonebridge Partners took an equity stake in Alpha one year ago. Alpha ended 2005 with $50 million in sales; combined 2005 sales for Alpha and Yorkbridge exceeded $60 million.

Alpha currently manufactures polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottles at three plants, and also makes bottles and preforms from polymerized lactic acid (PLA) through a marketing agreement with NatureWorks™ PLA. Its PET bottles and jars range from 1 ounce to 32 ounces with neck sizes ranging from 20mm to 89mm. Yorkbridge specializes in smaller-sized packages, such as amenities bottles for the hotel industry with 15mm, 18mm and 20mm necks.

With the Yorkbridge purchase, Alpha acquired a highly-efficient, state-of-the art plant housing ten PET injection stretch blow molding machines. Currently, Yorkbridge has 33,000 square feet devoted to manufacturing, but Alpha plans to double the size of the plant to increase capacity. Alpha expects that most of Yorkbridge’s 18 employees will remain with the company, including John Melaney who will serve as Director of Operations at the Bethlehem plant. Melaney has been with Yorkbridge since 1988 and has been in the plastics industry for 35 years.

Dave Spence, Chief Executive Officer of Alpha, says the Yorkbridge acquisition supports his company’s continued growth in the health and beauty market by allowing Alpha to expand quickly into smaller sizes of PET packaging. “This is a segment we have been interested in for some time now, as it supports our position in the personal care market, and opens up a variety of new opportunities with health and beauty manufacturers,” he says. “These new capabilities will help us continue to grow our customer base, enable us to increase our custom mold-making activities, and increase Alpha’s overall manufacturing capacity.”

Spence says the added benefit of increasing Alpha’s East Coast presence was also very attractive, and Yorkbridge’s modern facility offers a cost-effective manufacturing environment given the present state of utility costs.

As Director of Operations, John Melaney will continue to work closely with the customers who already purchase bottles made at the Bethlehem plant, and will also help Alpha seek new opportunities in both stock and custom packaging. “The synergies between the two product lines mean we can be a full-line provider to companies who need both large and small sizes of PET packaging,” he says. “Alpha’s distributor network will have a whole new product offering to complement what they are already buying from Alpha’s other plants.”

About Alpha Packaging:
Alpha Packaging is a leading manufacturer of HDPE and PET bottles and jars for the nutritional supplement, pharmaceutical, personal care, and niche food and beverage industries. In addition to manufacturing, Alpha Packaging has tool-making capabilities, from unit body cavity molds to complete high-cavity production tooling. It also offers in-house design on CAD/CAM systems, serving as a strategic industrial design partner for customers in a variety of industries. Alpha’s current management team has been in place since 1985.

In addition to the new plant in Pennsylvania, Alpha maintains headquarters and manufacturing facilities in St. Louis, Missouri and also has sales and manufacturing plants in Brooklyn, New York and Salt Lake City, Utah. Alpha’s sales force sells its products through leading domestic distributors, and also maintains a network of international distributors in key markets. For additional information, visit www.alphap.com.