ProMach has acquired Lako Tool & Manufacturing, a leader in high-quality, durable components for the flexible packaging industry. Lako designs and manufactures high-performance sealing, cutting, and punching solutions, along with associated tooling, for flexible film packaging machines. The company is known for its expertise in developing unique, high-performance sealing solutions for demanding applications within high-precision packaging machinery. This acquisition expands ProMach’s capabilities in the flexible packaging sector of the consumer-packaged goods market.
“We are excited to welcome the Lako team to ProMach,” said ProMach president and CEO Mark Anderson. “Their addition to our business continues the expansion of our product solutions portfolio, and it significantly expands our ability to serve our customers.”
“Lako is well recognized for quality designs, precision engineering and high-quality component manufacturing. With a world-class reputation for understanding complex customer requirements and delivering solutions that extend part life-cycles and ensure superior sealing for challenging, sustainable materials, we are proud to welcome their best-in-class products into the ProMach portfolio. Also, the synergies with other ProMach companies are exciting for both our company and our customers. Lako will be a great addition to the ProMach family, and we look forward to continuing to serve their loyal customer base at the highest level in the industry.”
Lako was founded in 1976 in Perrysburg, Ohio and was acquired by John Sullivan in 2007. The company serves several end markets, including snack, tobacco, personal care, and pet food. Lako’s 59 employees will join ProMach’s Systems & Process business unit led by group president Ryan McCart. ProMach’s flexible packaging business line includes Matrix and Bartelt, both of which provide packaging equipment solutions to package flexible products, in flexible materials, such as bags and pouches.
Lako will report directly to Don Deubel, senior vice president of ProMach’s flexible packaging business line. “The addition of Lako to ProMach underscores our commitment to providing our customers with the best products and aftermarket support in the industry. We believe that Lako’s consultative approach to solving complex technical challenges and their strong focus on lifecycle solutions will allow ProMach to be an even more significant partner to our shared customers in the flexible packaging segment,” said Deubel.
Lako CEO John Bialecki will join ProMach as Lako’s vice president/general manager. “We are excited to join the ProMach family,” said Bialecki. “I have been blessed to work with our previous owner, John Sullivan, for almost 20 years. His vision and guidance have allowed us to grow this business into a world-class solutions provider, and we are all personally grateful to him. In addition, being a part of ProMach will allow us to significantly scale Lako by leveraging the tools, processes, and customer relationships that ProMach has developed,” Bialecki added, “We have known ProMach for many years, and we share similar philosophies around the importance of serving our customers well. We are thrilled to join the ProMach team.”
