Direct-to-aluminum-can digital printer Canworks has been acquired by Mason Wells, a Midwest-based private equity firm with $2.4 billion raised across five buyout funds. The transaction, for which Mesirow served as exclusive financial advisor to the seller, marks a significant capital infusion into one of the fastest-growing segments of beverage packaging infrastructure: short-run, digitally printed aluminum cans.
Founded in 2020 by brothers Ryan and Marshall Thompson, Canworks built its business around a supply-chain pain point that has only grown more acute as beverage brand proliferation accelerates. Traditional lithographic can printing demands minimum order quantities that lock out emerging brands, limited-edition SKUs, and test-market launches. Canworks' direct-to-can digital process eliminates that barrier, enabling craft breweries, RTD cocktail producers, hard seltzer brands, CBD and cannabis beverage companies, kombucha makers, and energy and wellness drink startups to order short runs with fast turnaround and premium graphics. The company now operates five facilities spanning Texas, Georgia, California, Missouri, and Connecticut — a coast-to-coast footprint that serves brands, co-packers, brokers, and distributors across virtually every high-growth beverage category.
Why Packaging M&A Is Heating Up
The timing reflects a broader private equity thesis around beverage-adjacent infrastructure. As craft beer and RTD volumes have fragmented into hundreds of regional and specialty SKUs, the need for agile, short-run packaging solutions has become a structural rather than cyclical opportunity. Mason Wells has historically invested across consumer packaged goods and packaging materials and converting — sectors where Canworks sits squarely at the intersection. The firm is currently deploying capital from Mason Wells Buyout Fund V, LP, a $767 million vehicle, suggesting meaningful dry powder to fund Canworks' expansion.
Mesirow's packaging practice — which has completed more than 225 packaging transactions over the past 25 years — identified Mason Wells as the strategic fit. Rick Weil and Melanie Yermack, Managing Directors and Co-Heads of Packaging at Mesirow Investment Banking, called Canworks "a fast-growing leader in aluminum can decorating solutions to the beverage industry" and said the partnership "sets the stage for meaningful expansion." Christopher Yike, Director at Mesirow Investment Banking, also served as a transaction lead.
What It Means for the Supply Chain
For beverage suppliers navigating the three-tier system, Canworks' growth trajectory carries direct implications. Distributors and wholesalers increasingly field requests from supplier partners launching limited-edition or regional SKUs — formats that require exactly the kind of nimble, low-minimum-order packaging that Canworks delivers. A well-capitalized Canworks with private equity backing could meaningfully expand throughput capacity, reduce lead times, and extend its geographic reach to serve markets currently underserved by its existing facility network.
The environmentally sustainable positioning of digital can printing is also increasingly relevant to off-premise retail buyers and foodservice operators who are scrutinizing supplier ESG credentials. Digital printing eliminates the ink-laden lithographic sleeves and overcap labels associated with short-run alternatives, reducing material waste in the supply chain.
Co-founders Marshall Thompson and Ryan Thompson said Mason Wells' "significant experience scaling businesses at similar inflection points" will accelerate the company's mission. With five facilities already operational and a PE backer with deep packaging sector expertise, Canworks is positioned to become a more formidable infrastructure layer for the brands, co-packers, and distributors that depend on fast, flexible aluminum can decoration across the country's most competitive beverage categories.
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.
