RPC Group (www.rpc-containers.co.uk), Northants, which bills itself as Europe's leading manufacturing of rigid plastic packaging, has paid GBP 23m (around EUR 33m) to acquire the UK-based blow moulding activities of South African packaging producer Nampak (www.nampak.com), Sandton, as well as the plastics packaging businesses in mainland Europe belonging to Nampak Plastics Europe (www.eu.nampak.com), Woburn Sands /UK. The deal excludes dairy packaging and Nampak's British food packaging business. In the fiscal year ended 30 September 2004, the businesses acquired had sales of around GBP 77m.