Acquisitions: Amcor, Gualapack, Constantia and Aurelius

Amcor, Gualapack Group, Constantia Flexibles and Aurelius group have all made acquisitions while Sappi has announced some sales and speculation surrounds Oerlikon’s vacuum business.

Amcor has acquired Packaging India Private Limited (PIPL) from Essel Propack for INR 1,650m (US$ 26.4m).

PIPL has three plants in North and South India and produces flexible packaging for the food and personal care markets.

The business generates annual sales of INR 2,500m (US$ 40m).

Amcor has four flexible packaging plants across the North and West of India. The acquisition expands the footprint into Southern India and adds to the existing blown film and cylinder making capabilities.

Acquisition hungry Gualapack Group ​

Gualapack Group has sealed a majority stake in Tradbor Indústria e Comércio (Tradbor Stand-up-Pouches) in São Paulo, Brazil.

Tradbor Stand-up-Pouches claims to be the only Brazilian packaging company fully specialized in pre-made stand-up pouches.

Michele Guala, CEO of Gualapack Group, said the closing of the acquisition, allows it to proceed with integration, synergy harvest and positioning for further growth in Brazil.

“Indeed, the Gualapack Group intends to play a key role in the further development of the flexible packaging business in Brazil,”​ he said.

Gualapack Group said the acquisition will complement the products offered and consolidate its Latin American operations.

The firm works in spouted pouches and filling machinery and operates with direct manufacturing sites in Europe (4), Latin America (2) and through joint ventures in the USA (1) and the Far East (2).

Gualapack Group completed deals for higher stakes in two Chinese flexible packaging companies: Guangzhou Secure Packaging Co. in Guangdong and Secure HY Packaging Co., in Jiangsu last month.

Constantia Flexibles and Aurelius splash out​

Constantia Flexibles Group has bought the South African flexible packaging company Afripack.

Durban-based Afripack is the second largest flexible packaging company in South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Afripack achieved sales of €103m in the financial year ended September 2014 and has around 1,150 employees. It operates six plants in South Africa and one each in Kenya and Mauritius.

Constantia Flexibles is already in South Africa through its Johannesburg site, which produces labels for drinks manufacturers.

Aurelius Group has acquired Regain Polymers from Chamonix Private Equity for an undisclosed sum.

Regain is a UK-based compounder and recycler of post-use, rigid plastics. It operates from a single site at Allerton Bywater, Yorkshire.

Regain reported turnover of £31m in 2014 and employs over 100 people.

The company’s product portfolio spans the high density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP), talc-filled polypropylene (PPT) and polystyrene (PS) polymers.

Its compounding capacity across seven extrusion lines is 46,000 MT per annum; the company operates two wash plants and a material preparation facility with a capacity of 28,000 MT per annum, allowing it to remove contaminants, paper, metal and dirt prior to reprocessing.

Sell off and​ rumour mill​

Meanwhile, Sappi has sold its Cape Kraft recycled packaging paper mill to the Golden Era Group.

It follows the sale of its Enstra Mill and recycled packaging business to Corruseal Group and Sappi will receive just short of R600m (South African rand) from the two transactions.

Oerlikon is examining strategic options regarding its vacuum business.

The firm said it ‘has taken note’ of speculations regarding the Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum business.

The company is examining strategic options but added it was too early to make any statement regarding specific directions or decisions. 

Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum is active in the food and beverage segment in applications such as hermetically sealed packaging and food processing.