Steel and technology group Salzgitter (Salzgitter / Germany; www.salzgitter-ag.de) has increased its share in the PET bottles market through the acquisition of SIG Beverages from the SIG group (Neuhausen / Switzerland; www.sig.biz). Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. The purchase covers the PET bottle stretch blow moulding activities of SIG Corpoplast (Hamburg / Germany; www.sigcorpoplast.com) and SIG Asbofill. Combined, this segment posted sales last year of around EUR 150m with a workforce of 480.

Through the acquisition, Salzgitter aims to strengthen its newly established technology division "at key points". In July 2007, the company acquired Klöckner-Werke and its subsidiary KHS (Dortmund / Germany; www.khs.com), a leading manufacturer of bottling equipment.

When it originally entered the bottling and packaging machine sector, Salzgitter stated it would "actively shape the further strategic and operational development of the Klöckner-Werke." The latest acquisition is seen as "a first, extremely relevant step" towards this objective. KHS previously had to procure blow moulding units for its machines from external companies – it will now be in a position to offer complete units for the production and filling of PET bottles from a single source.

Salzgitter produces over 7m t of steel a year and has annual sales around EUR 10 bn. With some 24,000 employees, it is one of Europe's leading steel technology companies.