Plastics packaging specialist RPC Group (Rushden / UK; www.rpc-group.com) is acquiring Nordfolien (Steinfeld / Germany; www.nordfolien.com), a producer of polyethylene films for industrial and consumer packaging, for EUR 75m. The acquisition includes the main facility of former company Nordenia in Steinfeld / Germany, and a branch in Zdzieszowice / Poland, with a total of 400 employees.

Films capacity is said to total some 60,000 t/y. The company also operates recycling capacities of 15,000 t/y. The acquisition is subject to approval from the Polish and German competition authorities, with closing expected by the end of the third quarter of 2018.

The current management at Nordfolien will continue to run the sites as before, says RPC. The purchase price is approximately seven times the EBIDTA and is covered by RPC's existing debt facilities. The German films and packaging producer generates annual sales of around EUR 130m.

Nordfolien is being allocated to the RPC BPI segment, created in 2016 when the RPC group, which was formerly specialised in rigid packaging, moved into flexible packaging in a big way with its acquisition of British Polythene Industries – see Plasteurope.com of 10.08.2016. The acquisition is strengthening the group's market position on the continent, with a special focus on eastern Europe. In addition, cost synergies are expected primarily from procurement and best practice exchange. The new capacities will also allow BPI to grow without additional capital expenditure.

In the 2017 financial year (31 March), the RPC group generated approximately three quarters of its sales volume of GBP 2.75 bn (around EUR 3.3 bn) with plastics packaging, along with a smaller segment for technical parts. The group employs some 25,000 people at 194 locations in 34 countries.