Leading manufacturer of bottle preforms LuxPET (Bascharage / Luxembourg; www.luxpet.com) is to be purchased for an undisclosed sum by Plastipak (Plymouth, Michigan / USA; www.plastipak.com), subject to regulatory approval. With this move, due to be completed on 31 October, the US packaging group is continuing its current expansion strategy in Europe – see PIE 13, 2004.

Plastipak wants to “combine the very talented management of LuxPET with an industry leader in technology,” the company said in a statement. The Luxembourg firm´s management will be retained, as will its name and portfolio. Previously, LuxPET was part of the Schoeller Wavin group (Hardenberg / The Netherlands; www.schoellerwavinsystems.com). In 2004, the company posted sales of EUR 53m, half of this in Germany. In the current year, production is expected to reach around 1.5 bn preforms.

Plastipak, which manufactures all types of plastic bottles, recorded sales of USD 929m (around EUR 775m) in the first nine months of the 2004/2005 financial year (31 October). This is an increase of more than 20% compared with the same period of 2003/2004. The operating result went up on a similar scale, from USD 36m to USD 46m. Apart from South America, Plastipak has also established itself in Europe with two plants in Slovakia and one in the Czech Republic. Its main customer is Procter & Gamble, but it also supplies Kraft, Pepsi Cola and Reckett Benckiser.