German acquisition sees Sun European expand packaging portfolio again

The buyout of the German company by the private equity outfit continues its strategy to grow its packaging assets in Europe.

Philippe Neuschaefer of Sun European Partners, said: "Kobusch-Sengewald is a leading specialist supplier to high-end markets and through its technical know-how and strong innovation capabilities has developed robust, long-term customer relationships. We are delighted to be supporting the management team at this milestone in the company’s development and believe we can drive growth in both revenue and profitability through our packaging expertise.”​

Independent company​

Kobusch Sengewald produces both flexible and rigid plastic packaging for the food, chemical, hygiene product and medical sectors.

It employs over 1,100 employees across six sites located in Germany, Egypt and the UK. – with a range that includes flexible films, ready-made bags, pouches and sleeves.

"We are excited about the prospect of becoming an independent company and building on our leading position in the European plastic packaging market,”​ said Borge Kvamme, CEO at Kobusch-Sengewald, CEO said:

Sales for the company in the 12 months ending 30 September 2011 were €211.6m, with adjusted EBITDA of €24.8m, said parent company Pregis.

The deal is the second divestment by Pregis this month. At the beginning of October it announced it had reached a deal to sell Hexacomb to US company Boise for $125m. The proceeds of both deals will be used to cut company debt, said Pregis.

Acquisition strategy​

Sun has taken over more than a dozen packing firms over the last five years – including three in the last 12 months.

In December last year, it acquired Huhtamaki’s rigid packaging operations for €52m as it served notice it would aim to become a major player on the European stage.

This was followed by the takeover of UK-based Britton Group, which it later made the company’s flexible European hub. The move, in June, also saw Sun create a rigid packaging division known as PACCOR.

Two months ago it bought Austria-based Unterland Flexible Packaging from Mondi.

Tredegar eyes Latin American growth with acquisition​

In a separate deal, Tredegar Films announced it had agreed to buy 100% of Terphane Holdings – a manufacturer of polyester films with operations in Brazil and the US – for $188m. Terphane posted sales of $160m in the 12 months ending 30 June 2011.

The transaction is expected to close later this month.

Tredegar highlighted Terphane’s leading market share of thin polyester films for flexible packaging in Latin America as a major reason behind the acquisition.

Headquartered in Sao Paolo, Terphane has two manufacturing facilities in Cabo, Pernambuco Brazil and Bloomfield, New York.