In mid-April, Japanese paper and packaging group Oji Holdings (Tokyo; www.ojiholdings.co.jp) completed the takeover of Finnish company Walki (Espoo; www.walki.com). While Oji did not state the purchasing price that was paid to former owner One Equity Partners (OEP, New York, New York, USA; www.oneequity.com), it said it was calculated on the basis of the company’s value of EUR 640 mn.

The Japanese group added that Walki will continue to be run by the management team, with Leif Frilund at its head as CEO.

Oji, which provides the packaging sector with films, adhesive labels, paper bags, and cardboard boxes, has two other European subsidiaries – Kanzan Spezialpapiere in Düren, Germany, and the Italian manufacturer of packaging and filling machines, IPI. The acquisition of Walki, which reported sales of EUR 705 mn in 2022, is a significant step for Oji, especially in plastics processing.

Related: Walki acquires three companies in 2022

The group had previously announced plans to spend the equivalent of around EUR 2.4 bn between 2022 and 2024 on the transformation of its portfolio, in particular in the direction of sustainability. It also aims to increase the group operating result by more than half to JPY 150 bn (EUR 910 mn) in 2024.

Although the company managed to increase its turnover in fiscal year 2022/23 (31 March) to JPY 1.7 tn, the operating result left much to be desired, falling by one-third to JPY 85 bn. On top of that, only foreign activities showed positive results, while domestic business declined considerably. Both the first three quarters of fiscal year 2023/24 and the forecasts for the recently completed full year show further noticeable declines. Nevertheless, these can be largely attributed to the forest management segment and not to the semi-finished and finished goods produced from its raw materials.