Polimoon to Acquire Rigid Packaging Business in Denmark and Germany from Rosti AS
January 23 , 2006
Polimoon has signed an agreement to acquire the packaging business of Rosti AS in Germany and Denmark. Rosti AS is a subsidiary in the A.P. Moller - M?rsk A/S. Excluded from the acquisition is a German and Swedish operation of PET bottles. The acquisition is envisaged to be effective from 29 January 2006.
The acquisition will further strengthen Polimoon position in the Nordic and German packaging market. The business of Rosti has annual sales of 40 million ˆ (320 mNOK) with approximately 290 employees. The business operates four factories in Germany and one in Denmark.
Rosti packaging business is a significant manufacturer in Northern Europe of bottles, tubes and containers. The business primarily serves household goods and personal care companies in the consumer packaging segment and chemical customers for industrial packaging. The customer base is a good blend of local and multi-national companies. These are areas where Polimoon already is strong and the businesses suit each others well.
The business has a long and established tradition in its markets and is regarded as a quality producer of packaging. In the last years the market has been characterized by excess capacity with a need for consolidation. The acquisition is a step in this direction and should help to strengthen the business of both Polimoon and the acquired businesses.
Profitability in the German operations is satisfactory while the Danish operation is currently making a loss. Attention will be given to restore profitability in the Danish operation. This will be done by evaluating the total operations in Denmark, including two Polimoon factories. It is anticipated that costs will be incurred to restructure the Danish business in its totality.
"An acquisition of Rosti will allow Polimoon to strengthen our market position in Northern Europe. I am pleased to be able to incorporate the packaging business of Rosti into Polimoon. It is a further step in consolidating the market and better serve customers across Europe as we up until today have had a limited presence in the German packaging market.", says Arne Vraalsen, President & CEO Polimoon.
Polimoon recently announced two acquisitions. One was Lima-Pol Polimoon, a manufacturer of premium packaging located in Poland, with focus on consumer packaging, mainly jars and bottles to the cosmetics industry. The other was Rim-Tech, a manufacturer of components to the automotive and construction industry located in the Czech Republic.
The enlarged Polimoon Group will have combined sales of 380 million ˆ (3 billion NOK) employing 2740 people in 13 countries throughout Europe.
