Code Hennessy & Simmons LLC ("CHS") announced today that Waddington North America, Inc. (“WNA”), a portfolio investment of Code Hennessy & Simmons IV LP, a $1.0 billion investment fund formed in 1999, has merged with Polar Plastics, Ltd. (“Polar”) to create the leading North American designer, manufacturer and marketer of premium rigid plastic foodservice disposables producing a broad range of single-serve products for the foodservice industry, including tableware, drinkware, servingware and cutlery. The company’s primary customers are foodservice distributors, restaurant chains and retailers.

The merger combines two market leaders in the premium rigid plastics food service disposables industry, WNA in the United States and Polar in Canada. WNA and Polar each have more than a 30 year history of leadership in their respective markets. Earlier this year, WNA appointed Polar as its exclusive Canadian sales agent for stock products bringing a broader “one-stop-shop” offering to the Canadian market through Polar’s well-established distribution network. The combination extends the companies’ existing relationship, offering an improved footprint that better reflects the geographic spread of many of WNA’s and Polar’s key customers.

Mike Evans, CEO of WNA, said, “The combination of WNA and Polar results in strong competitive positions in multiple product categories, the broadest premium product offering in the industry and a diversified customer base with numerous, stable long-term relationships. Our platform is extremely well-positioned to pursue numerous organic growth opportunities and to provide superior customer service to our U.S. and Canadian customers. I look forward to working with the energetic and talented Polar team and I appreciate the continued support of CHS and WNA’s lenders, whose involvement was critical to effecting this combination.”

Dan Hennessy, Partner at CHS, said, “I applaud the vision and leadership of Mike Evans, the WNA management team and the Polar management team, all of whom share a commitment to realize the numerous strategic benefits of the WNA-Polar combination. CHS is actively seeking add-on acquisitions for WNA and will continue to support the company’s growth plans in all of WNA's served markets.”

CHS is a Chicago-based private equity firm specializing in private equity investments and recapitalizations of middle market companies in partnership with management. CHS has formed five private equity funds and currently manages over $2.5 billion of capital.

For more information on WNA, please refer to the company’s website at www.wna-inc.com. For more information on Polar, please refer to the company’s website at www.polarplastic.ca.