By the end of June Swedish PE film giant Trioplast Industrier AB (Box 143, S-333 23 Smalandsstenar) should have completed the purchase of Nyborg Plast A/S (Taasingevej 1, DK-5800 Nyborg) from FLS Industries A/S. The deal involves only the Scandinavian operations of Nyborg in Denmark and Sweden which together employ 360 people with a turnover of DKK 400m. Its throughput of polyethylene is approximately 39,000 t/y. The remaining PE film companies of Nyborg Plast International A/S, SMS, Silvallac and Promosac all based in France, will remain within FLS Industries and the holding company will change its name to FLS Plast A/S.

This move marks another step in the process of consolidation which has been a constant feature of the PE film industry over the past decade. Nyborg itself grew rapidly in the late 1980s with acquisitions in France and the UK. However, the business has been plagued by poor profitability and in 1994 its UK operations were sold to British Polythene Industries PLC.

In many ways the growth of Trioplast has mirrored that of BPI, in that it has expanded through acquisitions to build a position of dominance within one country. Its first international expansion came in 1995 when it took over the French film plant of the nappy producer Peaudouce. The group presently operates six other plants at four sites in Sweden with particular specialisations in hygiene and diaper film and industrial packaging. Turnover for 1996 was SEK 1.4bn with profit of SEK 206m. With the acquisition of Nyborg Plast the group will have a total sales volume of approximately 160,000 t/y which will make it the second largest film group in Western Europe behind BPI.