AR Packaging Group no longer selling its A&R Carton Lund and Flextrus businesses to Weidenhammer Packaging Group due to failed sale of AR Packaging Group's tobacco packaging business

Elyse Blye

HOCKENHEIM, Germany , February 14, 2014 (press release) – In November 2013, the Weidenhammer Packaging Group (WPG), Europe's leading supplier of composite cans, composite drums and plastic containers, and the AR Packaging Group (AR), headquartered in Lund, Sweden, agreed in a joint Letter of Intent that the WPG would purchase the two businesses A&R Carton Lund and Flextrus. This planned acquisition has now been called-off.

The AR Packaging Group recently informed the WPG that, due to the failed sale of its tobacco packaging business, it has decided to end the ongoing negotiations on divestment regarding the sale of its Specialties Packaging and Food Packaging operations. This decision also has a direct affect on A&R Carton Lund and Flextrus, which Weidenhammer in a mutual agreement with AR Packaging had planned to purchase.

“We regret that the AR Packaging Group has ended negotiations with us, and that as a consequence the acquisition cannot be concluded as hoped,” said Ralf Weidenhammer, Managing Director of the WPG. “However, this decision will have no effect on the development of our overall business as a corporate group. In the past year, we successfully expanded our business with composite cans and IML plastic containers. We’ve seen that our modern, high-quality barrier packages are in high demand, especially for food products, as a result of which we are growing in all markets. We plan to continue that growth in 2014 and the years to come.”

About the Weidenhammer Packaging Group

With 12 production sites, 1,100 employees and annual sales of €250 million, the Weidenhammer Packaging Group is one of the world's two leading suppliers of composite cans, composite drums and plastic containers. Founded in Hockenheim, Germany in 1955, the family-owned enterprise has evolved over the last 55 years to become a market and technology leader in its segment. Weidenhammer customers include international brand product manufacturers Nestlé, Unilever, Kelloggʼs, Mondelez, Rügenwalder Mühle, Imperial Tobacco and BAT. Further information is available on the Internet: www.weidenhammer.de/en/home.

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