DS Smith ‘cements its position in Europe’ with latest acquisition
Duropack is headquartered in Austria and has 14 corrugated packaging sites, two paper mills and 18 recycling sites across nine countries. It was acquired by One Equity Partners (OEP) in 2009 when it took over the majority of Constantia Packaging and delisted it from the stock market.
Andopack
DS Smith also recently acquired Andopack and on January 30, 2015, it completed the disposal of its testliner mill in Nantes, France.
Nicholas Mockett, head of Packaging M&A (mergers and acquisition) at Moorgate Capital advisory firm in London told FoodProductionDaily DS Smith will have an enviable position in Europe with its latest acquisition.
“DS Smith, which has been leading the corrugated packaging industry consolidation on this side of the Atlantic with the earlier acquisitions from SCA and Otor is cementing its position in Europe overall and more importantly is building its presence in Central and Eastern Europe with the acquisition of Duropack,” he said.
“This is a key growth region, as standards of living rise, countries join the EU, and retail models cater for evolving lifestyles.
“DS Smith will have an enviable here, which is likely to appeal to a multinational customer base (eg multinational food and beverage companies) which is continuously looking for established and trusted manufacturers to supply in new territories.”
DS Smith’s acquisition of Otor was approved by the UK Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in August 2010.
Lactalis, Bonduelle, Bongrain, Kraft
Rachel Stevens, head of investor relations, told FoodProductionDaily.com at the time: “We have been particularly pleased with the revenue synergies achieved with Otor with its customers such as Danone.”
Otor’s other customers include: Lactalis, Bonduelle, Bongrain, Kraft, Proctor & Gamble, Intersnack and Masterfoods.
The company also completed its €1.6bn (£1.2bn) takeover of SCA Packaging in June 2012 including itsentire packaging division – excluding two kraftliner mills in Sweden.
It said the deal represented “a significant opportunity” to meet its goal of “becoming the leading supplier of recycled packaging for consumer goods in Europe”.
Under the terms of the deal, DS Smith has acquired SCA’s which the Scandinavian firm said were well integrated into its forest products operations.
Speaking about the Duropack take over, Rob Jan Renders, CEO, Duropack Group said together with OEP it had taken the company forward and it was a ‘constructive’ time for the management team and it was looking forward to a positive development.
Miles Roberts, CEO, DS Smith added the acquisition was complementary to its geographical footprint and transforms its position in higher-growth South Eastern European geographies.
“We look forward to the deal contributing to the overall growth of DS Smith in attractive markets where we were previously under-represented,” he said in relation to strengthening its pan-European capabilities.
“Since our half-year, we have continued to make good progress with our customers, benefitting from our differentiated commercial offering and the ongoing roll out of our design centres,” added Roberts.
“Our volume performance has been strong, as the rapidly changing retail environment and consumer buying patterns make well-designed recycled packaging increasingly relevant.”
Duropack claims to have a number one or two market position in many of the geographies in which it operates and, combined with DS Smith’s existing operations in Hungary, Slovakia and Austria, will have a leading position across South Eastern Europe.
