The Europac Group has acquired a corrugated board factory in Caradec (France) for €21.7 million, expected to be effective on March 1, 2013. The facility produces 100 million m2 of corrugated board a year and consumes 60,000 tonnes of paper. The deal will accordingly enable the Europac group to step up board production in France by 28% and to increase its vertical integration. With this acquisition, the degree of integration between paper and board in the French market will rise from 67% to 88%.
José Miguel Isidro, chairman of the Europac Group, said that "this acquisition falls under the umbrella of the Group's strategic targets for the French market, where we command a share of the packaging segment of 7.4%".
The factory is located in Brittany and its integration into the Europac Group's organisational structure will consolidate the company's position in Western France, which represents one-third of the French packaging market and is considered The larder of France due to the concentration of the food industry in the region.
Note that this transaction follows the acquisition of SCA Packaging by DS Smith which the European anti-trust authorities had made conditional upon the sale of the Caradec corrugated board factory in Western France, among others.
The integration of this facility into the Europac Group will enable the company to consolidate its position as a benchmark supplier to the France market, Europe's third-largest market by sales volumes and Europac's largest. The deal will extend the company's sales reach in Brittany and boost cooperation with French and international customers.
