Swiss packaging specialist SIG Combibloc (Neuhausen; www.sig.biz) has reached an agreement with Pactive Evergreen (Auckland / New Zealand; www.pactivevergreen.com) to buy the latter’s Asia Pacific Fresh operations for an enterprise value of USD 335m (EUR 261m). The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2022.

Evergreen Asia – with production facilities in China, South Korea and Taiwan – supplies filling machines, cartons, closures and after-sales service to customers in the fresh segment, mainly for dairy. Its adjusted EBITDA for calendar year 2021 is forecast at around USD 28m, with revenues at around USD 160m, half of which are derived from China and the rest mostly from South Korea and Taiwan. SIG Combibloc reported net sales of EUR 1.8 bn in 2020. EUR 798m of this was generated in the EMEA region, with a further EUR 321m in the US markets.

The acquisition will enable SIG to access a new customer base and introduce more innovative packaging formats in the fresh dairy market. The Evergreen Asia business adds fresh milk cartons to SIG’s liquid dairy portfolio, which, until now, has been mainly focused on single-serve packs and on-the-go consumption. As fresh milk is mainly consumed at home, this acquisition broadens SIG’s range with an increase in family-sized packs. As part of the transaction, SIG will be entering into a new coated carton-board purchase agreement with Pactiv Evergreen.