The acquisition includes a labelling manufacturing factory in Osasco and will not have an impact on its 164 employees. The Málaga family will remain at the firm.
Wet glue labels, pressure sensitive labels
Henriëtte van Hedel, PR spokesperson, ARM, which makes coated metallized paper for flexible packaging and labels (wet glue labels, pressure sensitive labels, general labels and in-mold labels), told BeverageDaily, the firm was taken over by Nissha Printing last year and more mergers and acquisitions are in the pipeline.
“AR Metallizing supplies has production sites in Belgium, Italy and US. We wanted to enter the Brazilian market but Málaga Produtos Metalizados was a competitor to us as the leading manufacturer in metallized labels so it made good business sense to make this move,” she said.
“Brazil is one of the few growing Latin American markets as people tend to consume more here and the challenges is to ensure we have a local good supply to our customers with our products. South American breweries also prefer to work with local suppliers.
“Metallized paper is used in beer labels but we are keen to expand into the food sector and we already work for Heinz tomato ketchup.”
ARM was granted a patent last year to protect its eco-multi-layered laminated and metallized paperboard.
The laminated paperboard is an inexpensive alternative to the current glossy packaging materials for consumer goods and is a combination of thin layers of cardboard or paper with a razor-thin metal top layer.
No plastic or foil is processed
Thanks to the laminate lay-up, the paperboard is lighter, fewer raw materials are used and it is biologically degradable and recyclable: no plastic or foil is processed.
Nissha Printing acquired the company in August last year via H.I.G for €120m.
H.I.G. acquired ARM in September 2012 and shortly thereafter the assets of Vacumet Paper in the US. H.I.G. and ARM shareholders assisted with the integration of the acquired assets, and invested heavily to expand operations in South America and further new product development with the successful launch of metallized products for the consumer packaged goods markets.
Bart Devos, CEO of ARM, said at the time: “H.I.G. has been an outstanding and committed partner to ARM. H.I.G.'s ownership has enabled us to invest in world class operations, market leading R&D and new products that serve a customer base across the US, Europe, Africa, Asia and South America while providing invaluable operational and strategic guidance.”