DATA
Multinational packaging companies & subsidiaries - database
The world’s leading packaging companies operate an average of 109.1 subsidiaries each. Patrick Scott and Georges Corbineau reveal the global hotspots for these operations.
Powered by
Packaging multinationals are far less likely to establish subsidiaries in North America than the average multinational company, according to analysis of GlobalData's exclusively compiled subsidiary database.
Companies establish subsidiaries for a variety of reasons: to expand into profitable new markets, to increase revenue, and/or to diversify their holdings to better manage risk. As a vital component to a company’s expansion plans, the establishment of a subsidiary can offer insight into investment trends, with our database allowing you to see these investment patterns on a wider, sector level.
GlobalData’s multinational company database – which can be viewed in full on our sister site Investment Monitor – contains information on 2,188 of the world’s top multinational companies (MNCs) by revenue. Of these MNCs, 20 are in the packaging industry, representing 0.9% of the companies in our database.
These packaging companies are less likely than average to establish subsidiaries in North America (17% vs 27.8%) and are more likely to establish them in Western Europe (46.3% vs 36.8%).
Overall, the 20 packaging MNCs in our database operate 2,182 subsidiaries. This comes to an average of 109.1 subsidiaries per company, compared to an average of 99 for the entire database. It should be noted, however, that the number of subsidiaries is by no means evenly distributed within the sector.
The most common number of subsidiaries for an MNC in the sector (the mode) is 70, while the median comes in at 57.5, indicating that the simple average is skewed heavily by the bigger parent companies.
US-based Berry Global Group Inc has the largest number of subsidiaries among the packaging sector MNCs within our database with 462. This means it ranks 71st across our entire database when measured by the total number of subsidiaries.
Where has Berry Global Group established subsidiaries?
Berry Global Group’s subsidiaries are distributed across the world with 54.1% of its total located in Western Europe, the highest for any region. Some 95 of Berry's subsidiaries are located in its home country of the US, while the UK is the second most popular destination with 86.
After Berry, DS Smith has the second largest number of subsidiaries within the packaging industry MNCs in the database with 290, while Ball Corp is third with 233 and Crown Holdings fourth with 221.
Where has DS Smith established subsidiaries?
Overall, 513 of the subsidiaries owned by the packaging MNCs in the database are located in the same country as the parent’s headquarters. This means that MNCs in the sector are less likely than average to have a preference for domestic subsidiaries at 23.5%, with the figure for the entire database standing at 45.7%.
Methodology
GlobalData has compiled a list of top MNCs based on revenue. Any top companies that do not have subsidiaries were removed from the list. The latest company annual reports (2019 and 2020, where available) and websites were analysed for a total of 2,188 companies.
For a subsidiary to be included, the parent company has to have majority ownership/control in/over the subsidiary. Affiliates, associates, joint operations and joint ventures are included as long as the ownership criteria has been met. Subsidiary information is captured at a country level. Country names are standardised. In total, 216,898 subsidiaries have been captured.
