A.P. Moller-Maersk Group (Copenhagen / Denmark; www.maersk.com) has sold large parts of Rosti Technical Plastics (RTP, Farum / Denmark; www.rosti.com), a division of its subsidiary Rosti A/S (Ballerup / Denmark), to Swedish private equity company Nordstjernan (Stockholm / Sweden; www.nordstjernan.se) for an undisclosed amount. Under the terms of the deal, Nordstjernan’s subsidiary Stella Plastic Holding (Gislaved / Sweden; www.gpplastic.se) will acquire 100% of RTP's shares. The transaction, which still has to be approved by the competition authorities, is expected to be completed by Q1 2010.

Nordstjernan plans to merge Stella, which owns lid and screw cap producer GP Plastic's sites in Gislaved and Dresden, with RTP, creating a new company under the name Rosti, with headquarters located in Copenhagen. In the last 12 months, Nordstjernan says, Stella recorded sales of EUR 42m.

RTP produces injection-moulded plastics products at 13 plants in Denmark, Scotland, Poland, The Netherlands, China, India and the US. At present, the deal with Nordstjernan does not include the US plants, although the Swedish company has an option to acquire them in the future. RTP, which Moller-Maersk had unsuccessfully tried to sell at the beginning of the year - see Plasteurope.com of 24.04.2009 - says it recorded sales of EUR 112m in the last 12 months.

Nordstjernan predicts that the new Rosti will have a turnover of EUR 150m, employing around 1,800 workers. The company will be headed by Börje Vernet, current CEO of Stella. Commenting on the deal, Nordstjernan president Tomas Billing said, “RTP is our first investment in Denmark and we hope it will be followed by more Danish investments.”