US rigid packaging supplier Silgan Holdings (Stamford, Connecticut; www.silganholdings.com), has agreed to buy another US company, plastic closures manufacturer Portola Packaging (Tolleson, Arizona; www.portpack.com), in a bid to boost its presence in the European market. This marks the second acquisition within a year for the East Coast company following its purchase of Rexam's (London UK; www.rexam.com) personal care business in July 2012 – see Plasteurope.com of 05.07.2012. The purchase price of USD 266m will be funded from a combination of cash and finance under the company’s senior secured credit facility. The acquisition, which remains subject to certain conditions and regulatory approvals, is expected to close as early as September, according to Silgan.

Portola, which had sales of approximately USD 200m last year, operates eight facilities in Europe and North America. Bob Lewis, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Silgan, said: “We believe that the acquisition of Portola broadens our global closure franchise. We are excited about the opportunity to expand our relatively small European plastic closure presence through Portola’s manufacturing facilities in the UK (Doncaster) and Czech Republic (Louny).” Silgan operates 81 manufacturing plants in Europe, North and South America and Asia. Its annual net sales were about USD 3.6 bn in 2012.