PET beverage container manufacturer Petainer UK Holdings (www.petainer.co.uk) has announced the conditional acquisition of Rostiprimpac (Norrköping / Sweden; www.rostiprimpac.com) and Rostiprimpac Verpackungen (Leinefelde / Germany; www.rostiprimpac.com) from A.P. Moller Maersk (Copenhagen / Denmark; www.maersk.com). The deal still has to meet the approval of the Norwegian authorities.

“This move represents a further exciting step in the board’s ambitions to create a strong value added PET group with a significant emphasis on innovation, quality and high customer support levels,” said Petainer chairman Stephen Walls. Petainer operates plants in Lidkoping / Sweden and As / Czech Republic. The holding is owned by Next Wave Partners (London / UK; www.nextwavepartners.co.uk), WHEB Venture Partners (Munich / Germany; www.whebventures.com) and KBC Private Equity (Brussels / Belgium; www.kbcpe.be).

At the end of last year, Moller Maersk had sold large parts of its subsidiary’s Rosti Technical Plastics (Farum / Denmark; www.rosti.com) division to Swedish private equity firm Nordstjernan (Stockholm; www.nordstjernan.se) – see Plasteurope.com of 07.12.2009.