Canworks, Inc., a direct-to-aluminum-can digital printing company operating five U.S. facilities, has been sold to Mason Wells, the Milwaukee-based private equity firm currently deploying a $767 million buyout fund. Mesirow served as exclusive financial advisor to Canworks on the transaction, the terms of which were not disclosed.
The Parties
Founded in 2020 by brothers Ryan and Marshall Thompson, Canworks prints directly onto aluminum cans for beverage brands spanning energy drinks, wellness and hydration products, craft beer, ready-to-drink cocktails, seltzers, ciders, kombucha, and CBD and cannabis beverages — among the fastest-growing segments in the broader beverage packaging market. The company operates production sites in Texas, Georgia, California, Missouri, and Connecticut, giving it national reach for short-run and custom-label runs that larger, traditional can decorators typically cannot serve economically.
Mason Wells, formed in 1998, has raised $2.4 billion in aggregate across five independent buyout funds and focuses on four sectors: Consumer Packaged Goods, Outsourced Business Services, Engineered Products & Services, and Packaging Materials & Converting. The Canworks deal was funded through Mason Wells Buyout Fund V, LP. The acquisition adds a digitally native can-printing platform to the firm's packaging portfolio at a moment when beverage brands are increasingly demanding shorter production runs, faster turnaround, and sustainable print options to compete at shelf.
Why It Matters
The deal underscores a structural shift in beverage packaging: brand proliferation — particularly across functional beverages, craft categories, and cannabis-adjacent drinks — is pushing demand for short-run, digitally printed cans that bypass the minimum-order constraints of traditional lithographic decoration. Canworks positioned itself directly in that gap, offering premium graphic design, technical support, and faster speed-to-market than conventional can-decorating suppliers. For operators and co-packers sourcing differentiated packaging, the Mason Wells backing signals that Canworks is likely to expand capacity and geographic footprint.
Marshall Thompson and Ryan Thompson, co-founders of Canworks, said Mason Wells' experience scaling businesses at comparable inflection points made the firm an ideal partner. Rick Weil and Melanie Yermack, Managing Directors and Co-Heads of Packaging at Mesirow Investment Banking, described Canworks as "a fast-growing leader in aluminum can decorating solutions to the beverage industry" and said the partnership "sets the stage for meaningful expansion."
Advisor Track Record
The transaction is one of more than 225 packaging deals Mesirow Investment Banking has completed over the past 25 years, making it one of the more active mid-market advisors in the sector. Weil and Yermack co-led the engagement alongside Christopher Yike, Director at Mesirow Investment Banking. The closing adds to a run of beverage packaging M&A activity that has drawn private equity interest as the aluminum-can format continues to gain share versus glass and plastic in premium and functional drink categories — a trend tracked regularly by Food & Beverage Magazine.
For food and beverage operators evaluating their packaging supply-chain strategies, the Canworks-Mason Wells combination represents a better-capitalized short-run option at a time when lead times and minimum-order quantities remain persistent pain points across the conventional can-decorating landscape.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
