GE Antares, a unit of GE Capital, served as administrative agent on a $555 million senior secured credit facility to support the acquisition of Duro Bag Manufacturing Company by Hilex Poly Company , a portfolio company of Wind Point Partners. GE Capital Markets served as joint lead arranger and joint bookrunner on this facility.

Headquartered in Kentucky, Duro Bag is one of the leading providers of innovative point-of-purchase paper bags to key markets throughout the United States such as food service, specialty retail, grocery, and mass merchant. The combined company will provide over 3,000 manufacturing jobs in the U.S. and more than 600 in Canada and Mexico.

“GE Antares was an ideal financing partner to help join these two companies,” said Alex Washington, managing director of Wind Point Partners. “The GE Antares team’s swift execution on this transaction allowed us to meet our strategic financing needs.”

“We have long supported Hilex, and are excited to once again be part of its growth goals,” said Mike Hynes, a managing director of GE Antares. "This is a great opportunity for the company to diversify and we look forward to their continued success.”

Hilex Poly, based in Hartsville, S.C., is an industry leading manufacturer of flexible packaging products, ranging from bags for grocery, retail, and food service markets, to can liners and specialty films. The company operates 15 manufacturing locations across the U.S. & Canada plus the largest closed-loop recycling facility in the U.S. Hilex Poly’s award winning Bag-2-Bag recycling program was the first closed loop recycling program to introduce plastic bag and film recycling programs at supermarkets and retailers that also rewards customers with high recycled content shopping bags.

Duro Bag is a manufacturer and marketer of retail and luxury paper bags, for foodservice, grocery, wholesale-distribution and other industries. The company produces grocery bags, handle bags, compostable paper lawn and leaf bags, and various specialty bags, including lunch bags, pharmacy bags, Freshness Paper™ bread bags, food service bags, as well as a broad range of premium paper shopping bags for luxury retailers in North America. Additional information about Duro Bag is available at www.durobag.com .

Wind Point Partners is a private equity investment firm that partners with top caliber CEOs to acquire middle market businesses where they can establish a clear path to value creation. Since their founding in 1984, they have raised over $2.8 billion in commitments.

GE Antares is a unit of GE Capital. With offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, GE Antares is a leading middle market lender, offering a “one-stop” source for GE’s lending and other services offered to middle market private equity sponsors. GE Antares was recognized by Private Debt Investor and Private Equity International as 2013 Lender of the Year, North America and Mid-Cap Lender of the Year, North America, respectively.