Rexam sells its Petainer business

By Mike Stones

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags European union Czech republic

UK private equity companies Next Wave Ventures and WHEB Ventures have acquired global packaging company Rexam’s Petainer PET container business for £16m.

First offered for sale in 2006, Petainer promises strong growth potential, according to one of its new owners, Next Wave Ventures. Company partner Stephen Walls told FoodProductionDaily.com: “It’s a good company with good technology and a great management team. Its two plants located in Sweden and the Czech Republic are well placed for expansion into the German and Central Eastern European markets.”

Conventional packaging

The acquisition is expected to allow Petainer to expand into beverage sectors where PET packaging is beginning to replace conventional packaging.

Petainer, which reported a pre-tax profit of £5m in the first half of this year, is based in Lidköping, Sweden. It also operates a plant at Aš, Czech Republic and has a sales office in Germany.

In addition to PET bottles, the company supplies pre-forms and kegs to global drinks companies. In September Petainer launched a light-weight and recyclable PET keg in Germany which it claims needs less energy to produce and is a cheaper alternative to traditional metal keg.

Rexam reported that the sale would mean an exceptional loss of £9m and that net proceeds would be used to pay debt.

European Market

In September, Rexam announced the closure of its can plant in Dunkirk, France as part of its strategy to balance supply and demand in the European market. The facility made 33cl and 50cl steel cans and had an annual capacity of about 1.1bn cans.

The world consumer packaging market is estimated at $450bn with the food and beverage sector accounting for 70 per cent of the total.

The global market for PET packaging is expected to grow by 40 per cent within the next six years.

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