The world´s largest aluminium group, Alcoa (201 Isabella Street at the 7th Street Bridge, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15212-5858, USA), has purchased the UK´s market leader for wrapping film, Baco Consumer Products Ltd. (Raans Road, Amersham, GB-Bucks HP6 6JY), for an undisclosed sum. Following last year´s acquisition of Reynolds Metal (Richmond, Virginia / USA), Alcoa now has considerable interests in the plastics packaging segment, in particular film. The US group sees Baco as a springboard to the European market for household packaging, says Ruth Mack, vice president with responsibility for these operations.

Apart from owning a strong brand for household aluminium foil (Bacofoil), Baco also has a large plastics films division. Since purchasing the UK company HD Plastics in 1997, it has a total capacity of some 20,000 t/y of PE film. Until now, the Baco group belonged, through British Aluminium, to Luxfer Holdings plc (GB-Manchester M5 2SP), the successor company to British Alcan formed through an MBO in 1996. British Alcan was, for its part, the regional subsidiary of Alcoa´s biggest rival, Alcan. Following the sale, Luxfer is withdrawing completely from the field of consumer products.