Packaging giant Smurfit Kappa (Dublin / Ireland; www.smurfitkappa.com) has boosted its presence in southern Europe with the acquisition of Portugal’s Litbag (Vizela; www.litbag.pt) for an undisclosed sum.

Litbag has developed a “Bag-in-Box” business with capacities ranging from 2 litres to 20 litres for storing liquid or semi-liquid products, including water, wine, olives and juices, among others. Both the bag and the carton are recyclable. With specific expertise in multi-layer EVOH barrier films, Litbag is one of the leaders in the local wine market, and also exports to several countries including Spain and France.

“The 'Bag-in-Box' business continues to show significant potential for our group. We are excited to develop our global footprint further and we see great opportunities for our 'Bag-in-Box' business on a worldwide scale in the years ahead,” said Roberto Villaquiran, CEO of Smurfit Kappa Europe. “Product differentiators like their film performance and our Vitop tap technology will significantly strengthen our capabilities when they come together,” added Thierry Minaud, CEO of Smurfit Kappa “Bag-in-Box”.

Last month, Smurfit Kappa announced it had achieved a record EBITDA of EUR 1.2 bn in 2016, with revenues 5% higher than in 2015 on a constant currency basis. Tony Smurfit, group CEO, said the company is well positioned to make acquisitions that deliver long-term value. The group, which has operations in Europe, Latin America, the USA and Canada, was admitted to the FTSE 100 index last December.