Technological watch
Expansion continues for packaging group with LPF takeover / Clondalkin group continues to shrink
Expansion continues for packaging group with LPF takeover / Clondalkin group continues to shrinkDutch LPF production facility in Grootegast (Photo: LPF)As of 1 February 2021, Sà¼dpack (Ochsenhausen / Germany; www.suedpack.com) is to be the new owner of LPF Flexible Packaging (Grootegast / The Netherlands; www.lpffp.nl). The German firm said it will take over the entire workforce of just under 100 LPF employees. No financial details of the transaction were revealed in response to a Plasteurope.com enquiry.
â??We plan to establish the site in Grootegast in the long term as a competence centre for high-performance laminates within the Sà¼dpack Group,â? said Erik Bouts, spokesperson for Sà¼dpack management. Nevertheless, the group will continue to produce high-performance laminates at its headquarters in Ochsenhausen and in Bioggio / Switzerland.
For Sà¼dpack, the acquisition is a further building block in its long-term growth strategy. In 2020, the packaging manufacturer invested around EUR 40m in a new plant in Erolzheim / Germany. That same year, the company expanded production capacity at its Polish site in KÅ?obuck (see Plasteurope.com of 05.08.2020) and signed a joint venture with Indian packaging producer Kamakshi Flexiprints (Ahmedabad, Gujarat; www.kamakshiflexiprints.com; see Plasteurope.com of 15.07.2020).
Apart from Germany, Poland and India, the manufacturer of coextruded, flexible and rigid film, composite film and vacuum bags also has production sites in France, Switzerland and the US. Including LPF employees, the company now has a workforce of nearly 1,700.
LPFâ??s core competencies include the development and production of printed and unprinted duplex and triplex laminated sheets for packaging food, pharmaceuticals and technical products. Since 2005, the company has been part of Dutch Clondalkin packaging group (Utrecht; www.clondalkingroup.com), which was axquired in 2016 by compatriot private equity firm Egeria (Amsterdam; www.egeria.nl; see Plasteurope.com of 15.09.2016).
With the divestment of LPF, Clondalkin is continuing to downsize. At the time of the Egeria takeover, Clondalkinâ??s turnover was reportedly EUR 315m. Current figures are not being published, but divestments since then account for around EUR 50m of sales, bringing turnover close to EUR 250m. In 2012 â?? the last annual report filed with the Dutch Financial Markets Authority (AFM) â?? Clondalkinâ??s activities quoted at almost EUR 1 bn.
In 2018, the rapidly expanding Schur Flexibles (Wiener Neudorf / Austria; www.schurflexibles.com) acquired three Clondalkin plants for waxed paper and barrier film packaging in the Netherlands and Germany (see Plasteurope.com of 22.02.2018). Following the sale of LPF, the companies still left under the Clondalkin umbrella are, in addition to Wentus (Hà¶xter / Germany; www.wentus.de), Chadwicks (Bury / UK; www.chadwickslids.co.uk), Flexoplast (Wieringerwerf / The Netherlands; www.flexoplast.nl), Nyco Flexible Packaging (Kirchberg / Switzerland; www.nyco.ch) and Royal Vaasen Flexible Packaging (Vaassen / The Netherlands; www.royalvaassen.com), all of which are specialised in flexible packaging and lidding film.01.02.2021 Plasteurope.com [246851-0]
â??We plan to establish the site in Grootegast in the long term as a competence centre for high-performance laminates within the Sà¼dpack Group,â? said Erik Bouts, spokesperson for Sà¼dpack management. Nevertheless, the group will continue to produce high-performance laminates at its headquarters in Ochsenhausen and in Bioggio / Switzerland.
For Sà¼dpack, the acquisition is a further building block in its long-term growth strategy. In 2020, the packaging manufacturer invested around EUR 40m in a new plant in Erolzheim / Germany. That same year, the company expanded production capacity at its Polish site in KÅ?obuck (see Plasteurope.com of 05.08.2020) and signed a joint venture with Indian packaging producer Kamakshi Flexiprints (Ahmedabad, Gujarat; www.kamakshiflexiprints.com; see Plasteurope.com of 15.07.2020).
Apart from Germany, Poland and India, the manufacturer of coextruded, flexible and rigid film, composite film and vacuum bags also has production sites in France, Switzerland and the US. Including LPF employees, the company now has a workforce of nearly 1,700.
LPFâ??s core competencies include the development and production of printed and unprinted duplex and triplex laminated sheets for packaging food, pharmaceuticals and technical products. Since 2005, the company has been part of Dutch Clondalkin packaging group (Utrecht; www.clondalkingroup.com), which was axquired in 2016 by compatriot private equity firm Egeria (Amsterdam; www.egeria.nl; see Plasteurope.com of 15.09.2016).
With the divestment of LPF, Clondalkin is continuing to downsize. At the time of the Egeria takeover, Clondalkinâ??s turnover was reportedly EUR 315m. Current figures are not being published, but divestments since then account for around EUR 50m of sales, bringing turnover close to EUR 250m. In 2012 â?? the last annual report filed with the Dutch Financial Markets Authority (AFM) â?? Clondalkinâ??s activities quoted at almost EUR 1 bn.
In 2018, the rapidly expanding Schur Flexibles (Wiener Neudorf / Austria; www.schurflexibles.com) acquired three Clondalkin plants for waxed paper and barrier film packaging in the Netherlands and Germany (see Plasteurope.com of 22.02.2018). Following the sale of LPF, the companies still left under the Clondalkin umbrella are, in addition to Wentus (Hà¶xter / Germany; www.wentus.de), Chadwicks (Bury / UK; www.chadwickslids.co.uk), Flexoplast (Wieringerwerf / The Netherlands; www.flexoplast.nl), Nyco Flexible Packaging (Kirchberg / Switzerland; www.nyco.ch) and Royal Vaasen Flexible Packaging (Vaassen / The Netherlands; www.royalvaassen.com), all of which are specialised in flexible packaging and lidding film.01.02.2021 Plasteurope.com [246851-0]
This project has received funding from the Bio Based Industries Joint Undertaking under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 837761.
