A Los Angeles-based packaging company has acquired the Welsh Paper Co. in Youngsville as part of an expansion to the East Coast.

Ernest Packaging Solutions is renaming the company Welsh Packaging Solutions and plans to double the number of employees over the next five years and open a new distribution facility in Charlotte. Welsh currently employs 45 people in Youngsville, about 20 miles northeast of Raleigh.

Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

Ernest, a family-owned business, said in a statement announcing the deal that hiring will begin immediately. The company plans to increase Welsh's workforce by 20 percent in the next few months, expanding both the merchandising and sales departments.