--- title: "The packaging supplier" language: en canonical: https://dossiertwist.com/dossiers/exactech/packaging-supplier/ as_of: 2026-10-16 keywords: ["Exactech","TPG","Osteon Holdings","TPG VII Osteon Holdings","Advita Ortho","Exactech Settlement Trust","polyethylene recall","Connexion GXL","Optetrak","Truliant","Equinoxe","vacuum bag packaging","EVOH","MDL No. 3044","Hospital for Special Surgery","Chapter 11","False Claims Act","Strategic Value Partners","William Petty","Jeffrey Binder"] --- # The packaging supplier **Question.** Who made the defective bags, and why was the missing barrier layer not caught? **Answer.** According to the Settlement Trust, from 2004 to 2021 Exactech bought its polyethylene vacuum bags from Hillman Supply Company, a janitorial-supply firm near its headquarters that did not make the bags itself, and never audited it or the actual manufacturers; the trust says TPG did not examine the supplier in due diligence and learned by 2023 that Exactech had been on notice of non-compliant certifications since 2012. TPG says the packaging issues predated its ownership; Hillman, a co-defendant in Florida product-liability suits, answered them with affirmative defences. ## Hillman Supply Company - Analysis: Florida's registry lists Hillman Supply Company, Inc. as an active Florida corporation, document number P93000005334, filed on January 19, 1993, with its principal address in Alachua. The trust's complaint states that from 2004 to 2021 Exactech sourced its polyethylene vacuum bags from Hillman, a local company specialising in janitorial supplies, and that Hillman did not manufacture the bags but outsourced them to other manufacturers, some of whom outsourced further; it alleges that Exactech never ran a quality audit or supplier review of Hillman, never audited the packaging's actual manufacturers and never confirmed that Hillman was qualified to supply packaging for the liners. These are allegations in the Settlement Trust’s pending complaint and have not been adjudicated. TPG told a newspaper in 2025 that the packaging issues predated its ownership and that it learned of them in 2021; in the Florida product-liability suits Hillman filed an answer with affirmative defences and a jury demand. [src-059] [src-056] [src-012] [src-095] [src-060] ## Who knew what, according to the trust - Analysis: The trust alleges that neither TPG nor its advisers interviewed the packaging supplier or visited its warehouse, about 15 minutes from Exactech's headquarters, during due diligence, although its advisers had identified the recently filed Alabama suit raising serious allegations of product defects. It states that by July 22, 2021 Exactech's chief quality and regulatory clinical officer had told others that 20 years of supplier certifications did not mention the EVOH layer, and that a TPG lawyer learned no later than September 2023 that Exactech had been on notice by 2012 of non-compliant certifications from its packaging supplier or suppliers. These are allegations in the Settlement Trust’s pending complaint and have not been adjudicated. [src-012] ## Sources - [src-059] Sunbiz detail record for Hillman Supply Company, Inc. (document P93000005334), Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, 2026 - [src-056] Sunbiz entity-name search results for "Hillman Supply", Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, 2026-10-16 - [src-012] Court record source · src-012 - [src-095] Media source · src-095 - [src-060] Court record source · src-060