European rigid packaging giant Paccor Group absorbs Hungarian plastics packaging producer Pannunion, a recent acquisition by Sun Capital Partners, bringing Paccor's holdings to 19 manufacturing sites in 13 countries

Lorena Madrigal

LOS ANGELES , January 16, 2012 (Industry Intelligence) –

Hungarian packaging producer Pannunion Packaging Plc has been absorbed into European rigid packaging giant Paccor Group, reported Plastics and Rubber Weekly (PRW) on Jan. 16.

Pannunion was earlier acquired by U.S.-based investment firm Sun Capital Partners Inc., which created Paccor in early 2011 and built it into a business with 19 manufacturing sites in 13 countries, generating annual sales of over €425 million (US$538.4 million) last year.

Pannunion’s main business was its packaging unit in Hungary, and other operations were in Romania, Serbia, the Ukraine and Hungary, PRW reported.

The company’s divisions included the blow-molded packaging operations of Almand and Pannon-Effekt in Hungary and the rigid sheet and thermoformed packaging materials divisions of Unical in Romania, Serbia-based Unionplast and Interagropack in the Ukraine.

Late last year, Paccor announced it would begin construction of a €20-million, 20,000-square-foot plant at Haemeenlinna, Finland. Work is scheduled to be completed by about March 2013. Production will be transferred to the new facility from leased premises this September, reported PRW.

Another series of Sun acquisitions through 2011 created a parallel European flexible packaging group.

It is organized under U.K.-based Britton Group and also includes Veriplast Solutions of France and Germany’s Reuther Verpackung GmbH, with production facilities in Germany, France, the U.K. and Poland, and an annual turnover of about €311 million, PRW reported.

Paccor’s operations in Finland last year underwent an upgrade that added thermoforming-IML decoration to allow for high-quality printing comparable to its mold labeling but with the advantages of thermoforming technology.

Also installed at Paccor was an eight-color dry-offset printing press that can print round cups, and a new digital printing plate imager that allows greater flexibility, quicker reaction time, and quality printing, said the company, reported PRW.

The primary source of this article is Plastics and Rubber Weekly, London, England, on Jan. 16, 2012.
 

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