After years of separation, the partnership between Europe's biggest player in plastics household articles, Curver BV (PO Box 16, NL-5050 AA Goirle), and the world market leader, Rubbermaid Inc (1147 Akron Road, Wooster, Ohio 44691 / USA) in Europe is flourishing again. The mega merger between the two companies announced in November 1997 (see Plasteurope.com 21, 1997) is now official, and the contracts have been signed and sealed. It is no secret that with the acquisition of the Curver group from Dutch chemical giant DSMNV (PO Box 43, NL-6130 AA Sittard) Rubbermaid has moved very much to the top of the tree in the European market for plastics household articles. But still no one knows, even after the Frankfurt consumer goods fair "Ambiente", what the joint marketing, sales and product strategies will look like.

As Wolfgang Schmitt, chairman and ceo of Rubbermaid, emphasised at a press conference, expansion in Europe has top priority when it come to building up business outside the USA, where Rubbermaid is already market leader. In particular, Schmitt said, the company is also taking into account the large growth potential in eastern Europe. Market leaders there are Poland's Dom Plast (ul. Wroclawska 34, PL-76-200 Slupsk), which has a 50% share of its home market and in which Rubbermaid has a 90% stake, as well as Curver Hungary. To strengthen its position in Europe – the combined market share is currently around 25 - 30% – additional acquisitions are planned. Takeover candidates are the group's competitors rather than suppliers, said Schmitt. Rubbermaid's worldwide sales in 1997 edged forward to USD 2.4 bn from 2.35 bn), earnings declined to USD 142.5m from 152.4m.

Joachim Walther, managing director of Curver Kunststoff GmbH (An der Trift 63, D-63303 Dreieich), is confident about Curver's future with Rubbermaid. "It never really fit in at DSM. We were always the black sheep," he remarked. The Dreieich site is to stay for the time being, "although no final decision has been made," Walther told PIE. Individual strategies are to be worked out together by both parties before the summer, but any change in the strong "Curver" name-brand products are entirely out of the question as far as Walther is concerned – "it plays a leading role throughout Europe." Schmitt, on the other hand, would like to let the consumers decide whether the names "Curver" and "Rubbermaid" could coexist on the market.

According to Walther, the Curver group has the broadest range of products in Europe, and Germany is its biggest market, recording a slight increase in 1997. Overall, Curver achieved sales throughout Europe of NLG 450m. The company was particularly proud of its "Product of the year 1998" award from the Fachverband Kunststoff-Konsumwaren for its outdoor children's playhouse "Spielhaus für Kinder". The most striking thing about the new products presented at "Ambiente"are their bright, vibrant, colours. Typical examples include the trendy storage boxes, a new breadbin with an integrated cutting board, frosted-look glasses and crockery, along with several new products for children,including a colourful combination box systems with rollers and – a particular highlight – a new rubbish bin for children, with a panda or tiger-head lid.

READER SERVICE: Detailed information on Curver's new products shown at "Ambiente": PIE-No. 42037 – Brief profile and product examples from Rubbermaid: PIE-No. 42038.