EPS producer StyroChem Finland (Porvoo; www.styrochem.fi) is to be merged with one of its customers, Norwegian family-owned packaging producer BEWi (Hamavik; www.bewi.no), to create what the companies expect to be “one of Scandinavia’s more significant” integrated players in the EPS market for building insulation and packaging with pro forma sales of around EUR 90m.

The new firm will trade under the name BEWi Group and will apparently be majority owned by StyroChem’s current owner, Verdane Capital (www.verdanecapital.com), which has offices in Oslo, Stockholm and Helsinki. To broaden the assest base, BEWi is acquiring two units of UK packaging giant DS Smith (London; www.dssmith.uk.com) including Danish Flamingo and the Swedish Cellplast business in Värnamo and Urshult.

Along with StyroChem, which has commodity EPS production at one site in Finland, and the two DS Smith businesses, the new BEWi Group will include the packaging group’s subsidiary ThermiSol, a plastics converter with four production facilities in Sweden, and BeWi Packaging, with two plants in Sweden. Flamingo has four packaging production plants in Denmark.

Christian Bekken, who previously headed the family business BEWi AS and will head the merged company, called the deal “a sound business opportunity,” adding that “we see great opportunities to develop the market, both in the building insulation and packaging areas.” Former StyroChem supervisory board chairman Göran Wilkström, who will hold the same position in the newly created BEWi Group, said access to the entire production chain “allows us to further strengthen our customer focus.”

BEWi Holding Norge will not be part of the merger, but will remain independent with the units BEWi Produkter, BEWi Polar and BEWi Norrplasta.