Smurfit Kappa boosts Latin American portfolio

Global – Ireland-based Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) has entered the Brazilian packaging market with the acquisition of Industria de Embalagens Santana (INPA) and Paema Embalagens for a total consideration of approximately Euro 186 million.

The combined operations of these privately-owned integrated paper-based packaging businesses include three recycled containerboard mills with a total annual capacity of 210 000 tonnes and four corrugated facilities. Net assets as of September 30 last year amounted to Euro 30 million for INPA and Euro 6 million for Paema.

The combined business employs over 1700 people and the group currently expects to generate synergies of approximately Euro 6 million to be delivered by the end of 2017, primarily through operational improvements and supply chain optimisation as the businesses are integrated.

According to SKG, the size and location of the combined operations will build on the group’s leadership position as the largest pan-regional corrugated packaging supplier in Latin America. The acquisition ‘will extend our reach into a strategically important market and build on our geographic diversity and strength’, comments Smurfit Kappa Group ceo Tony Smurfit.

And he adds: ‘We are confident that their expertise and the high quality of their asset base will provide us with a strong entry point into the Brazilian market and further strengthen our service offering to our existing international customers.’