Swiss composite carton specialist SIG (Neuhausen; www.sig.biz) said it has completed the acquisition of Scholle IPN (Northlake, Illinois; www.scholleipn.com) and has integrated the US packaging systems manufacturer into the group from 1 June 2022. The acquisition valued Scholle IPN at EUR 1.36 bn (see Plasteurope.com of 07.02.2022).

Being the global leader in bag-in-box packaging and the number two in spouted pouches, Scholle IPN will enable SIG to expand the latter’s portfolio of food and beverage carton solutions and its exposure to growing markets. In 2021, Scholle IPN produced over 480 mn bag-in-box packages and over 3 bn spouted pouches.

SIG said Scholle IPN’s leadership in mono-material barrier films will further enhance recyclability of cartons, pouches and bags. Combined, the group plans to work towards “the vision of fibre-based pouches”.

The combined group – along with Evergreen Asia, whose acquisition was announced in January 2022 (see Plasteurope.com of 10.01.2022) – will have 25 manufacturing plants with pro-forma revenue of EUR 2.7 bn, of which 82% are from carton, 13% bag-in-box and 5% pouch.

Ross Bushnell, ex-CEO of Scholle IPN, has joined SIG’s group executive board as president of Scholle IPN. Laurens Last, Scholle IPN’s previous owner, joined SIG’s board of directors in April 2022 and now owns 9.18% of SIG’s issued share capital, comprising the 33.75 mn SIG shares he received as part of payment at completion of the acquisition and some additional shares he bought on the open market.