Austrian packaging manufacturer Alpla (Hard; www.alpla.com) is hoping to strengthen its presence in North and West Africa through the purchase of a majority stake in its competitor Atlantic Packaging (Tangier, Morocco; www.atpack.ma). Together with the target company’s previous parent company Diana Holding (Meknes, Morocco; www.dianaholding.ma), Alpla has also founded the joint venture Alpla Morocco, into which Atlantic Packaging is expected to soon be merged. The two companies did not disclose financial details of the transaction. 

Diana, which focuses primarily on agricultural products such as wine, olive oil, fish, poultry and fruit, is thus finally parting ways with the beverage and packaging business after CEO Rita Maria Zniber sold bottler Atlas Bottling to Equatorial Coca-Cola Bottling, also based in Morocco, in 2022. 

Related: Alpla takes majority stake in Paboco 

Atlantic Packaging produces PET preforms, LDPE shrink and stretch film and crates, pallets, and bins at its plant in Tangier with 32 employees. For the latter, the company processes polypropylene and HDPE, also partly as recyclates. Alpla did not specify the quantities when asked by Plasteurope.com, but information from the Diana Group on the number of units produced indicates around 5,000 t of PP and HDPE injection moulding grades, as well as 3,000 t of LDPE for film extrusion. The previous capacity of around 100 mn preforms can also be translated into a consumption of around 3,000 t/y to 3,500 t/y of PET. 

Immediately after the transaction was approved, Alpla tripled its preform production to 9,500 t/y with two additional machines. The Austrian company announced that in the coming years it intends to “expand the site’s portfolio to include the production of bottles and closures”. The plant, which currently covers 12,000 m², has space reserves of a further 20,000 m² that could be utilised for this purpose.