Goldman Sachs Alternatives to Acquire Reusable Packaging Group Tosca From Apax

Funds advised by Apax Partners have agreed to sell Tosca, a global provider of reusable packaging pooling and logistics services for the food supply chain, to Infrastructure at Goldman Sachs Alternatives.

The financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed during 2026.

The deal gives Goldman Sachs Alternatives control of a business positioned at the intersection of logistics infrastructure, food distribution and the transition away from single-use packaging. Tosca operates reusable plastic containers, pallets and bulk bins that circulate between producers, distributors and retailers rather than being discarded after individual shipments.

Founded in 1959 and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Tosca was acquired by Apax funds in 2017. Since then, the company has expanded its geographic presence and operational capabilities across North America and Europe. Today, Tosca operates a network of 63 service and wash centres and serves more than 5,000 customers across 30 countries.

Reusable Packaging as Supply Chain Infrastructure

Tosca's business is based on reusable asset pooling, where packaging assets are shared across multiple participants in a supply chain.

Instead of purchasing and disposing of packaging for each shipment, customers use containers or pallets from a common pool. After delivery, those assets are collected, inspected, cleaned, and returned to circulation.

The model can reduce the amount of packaging material required over time, although its overall environmental performance also depends on factors including transport distances, cleaning requirements, asset lifetime and the number of reuse cycles achieved.

Reusable pooling is particularly suited to food supply chains because products often move repeatedly between established producers, distribution centres and retailers. This creates relatively predictable logistics loops in which packaging can be recovered and reused rather than becoming waste after each delivery.

Tosca provides pooling, logistics, asset management and sanitization services alongside its reusable packaging assets. Apax describes the company as a major provider of reusable packaging to markets including eggs, produce, protein and cheese.

Goldman Sachs Alternatives sees these characteristics as increasingly similar to essential infrastructure.

Cedric Lucas, Partner within Infrastructure at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, said the company is exposed to several long-term trends, including increasing food supply chain automation, demand for circular economy solutions and wider adoption of reusable asset pooling. Goldman Sachs also highlighted Tosca's large asset base, integrated service network and high customer retention as important elements of the investment case.

Investment Planned in Automation and Technology

Following completion of the acquisition, Infrastructure at Goldman Sachs Alternatives and Tosca's management intend to invest further in the company's asset base, operating platform, technology and customer offering.

One priority will be additional automation at Tosca's wash centres, where reusable packaging is sanitised and prepared for another cycle of use.

These facilities are critical to the economics of pooling systems. Faster and more efficient washing, inspection and redistribution can increase asset utilization while supporting higher volumes without requiring equivalent increases in labour or infrastructure.

Goldman Sachs also plans additional technology deployment and strategic growth initiatives across North America and Europe.

The investment follows several years of expansion under Apax. Tosca has grown both organically and through acquisitions, including the purchase of Polymer Logistics and European reusable pallet pooling specialist Contraload. Those transactions expanded Tosca's portfolio and geographic reach in reusable transport packaging.

Apax Partner Ashish Karandikar said the firm had worked with management to develop Tosca into a global reusable asset pooling platform and described Goldman Sachs Alternatives as an appropriate investor for the company's next stage of development.

Regulation is Strengthening the Case for Reuse

The acquisition also comes as European packaging regulation places greater emphasis on waste prevention, recycling and reuse.

The EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, or PPWR, entered into force in February 2025 and became generally applicable on 12 August 2026. It covers packaging across materials and sectors and introduces requirements intended to reduce packaging waste, increase recycled content and expand reuse.

Among its provisions, the regulation establishes reuse requirements for certain forms of transport packaging and aims to make packaging placed on the EU market recyclable in an economically viable way by 2030. An EU summary states that 40% of transport packaging is expected to be reusable by 2030, with a longer-term indicative target of 70% by 2040, subject to exemptions and detailed conditions.

The regulatory direction creates practical incentives for food manufacturers, retailers and logistics operators to reconsider packaging systems that depend heavily on disposable materials.

For reusable packaging providers, however, compliance is only part of the opportunity. Businesses also need systems capable of tracking packaging, maintaining hygiene standards, recovering assets efficiently and operating sufficiently dense logistics networks to make repeated reuse economically viable.

That gives established pooling operators an advantage that extends beyond the packaging itself.

Circular Economy Becomes an Infrastructure Investment Theme

The Tosca transaction illustrates how some circular economy activities are increasingly being treated as infrastructure investments rather than simply environmental products or services.

Infrastructure at Goldman Sachs Alternatives has invested approximately $22 billion in infrastructure assets since it was established in 2006. Its investment areas include energy transition, transportation and logistics, digital infrastructure and the circular economy. Goldman Sachs Alternatives overall manages more than $706 billion across alternative asset classes, according to the firm.

Reusable packaging networks share several characteristics with traditional infrastructure businesses. They require significant upfront investment in physical assets, washing and service centres, and logistics systems, while generating value through repeated use of the same network over long periods.

For Tosca's customers, the practical implications of further investment could include a larger available pool of reusable containers and pallets, improved asset tracking, more automated cleaning operations and greater geographic coverage.

The environmental benefits will ultimately depend on how efficiently those systems operate and how frequently assets are reused. But the transaction signals growing investor interest in companies that provide the physical infrastructure required to move supply chains from linear consumption models towards systems based on reuse and circulation.

As packaging regulation tightens and companies seek to reduce waste across their value chains, reusable logistics infrastructure is likely to become an increasingly important part of both supply chain strategy and circular economy investment.

Source: onestopesg.com