ITALY – VPK Group, a provider of sustainable and protective packaging solutions, has signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Zetacarton.
Zetacarton is located near the city of Como in Northern Italy and specializes in manufacturing niche products made of corrugated board, including fanfold and big-box packaging, among others.
The company’s plant employs 110 people and produced 106 million square meters of cardboard, generating €75 million (US$ 9.90m) in revenue in 2022.
Zetacarton, led by the Zanfrini family, recently acquired a new digital single-pass printer that operates using water-based pigment inks.
This high-end printing machine facilitates quick transitions between short print jobs while ensuring exceptional printing precision.
The acquisition marks VPK’s entry into the Italian market. This is part of VPK’s growth strategy, which aims to concentrate on and expand its vertically integrated business model in Europe.
Zetacarton’s printed fanfold technology is expected to complement and expand the geographic coverage of VPK’s fit2size offering.
Oji Holdings buys Walki Holding
Meanwhile, Japan-based Oji Holdings has officially signed a deal with the US investment fund One Equity Partners (OEP) to acquire all shares of Walki Holding Oy, a pan-European company specializing in advanced materials conversion.
Oji said the acquisition will allow the company to “build and expand a platform” for its packaging business in Europe.
In addition, the company said the deal would combine Oji’s barrier technologies and Walki’s advanced technical lamination, which “will accelerate the development of environmentally friendly fiber-based solutions.”
Based in Espoo, Walki has been a trailblazer in specialty packaging materials. The company is a material converter with coating technologies that allow brand owners to achieve fully recyclable paper packaging.
Specializing in consumer and industrial packaging for food, along with engineered materials such as insulation and fire-retardant facings, Walki boasts a global presence with 17 production facilities and a workforce exceeding 1,700 employees.
American Holt acquires DMA Solution
Finally, American Holt, a supplier of aftermarket parts to packaging and other industries, has completed the acquisition of DMA Solution.
DMA Solution specializes in designing and manufacturing high-performance aftermarket replacement parts for the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic container and beverage packaging sector.
The deal will create a single combined platform with American Holt and DMA to complement each other’s business.
The merged entity will provide aftermarket parts for users in the food and beverage industry seeking production machinery.
Combined platform CEO, Cliff Gilbert, said, “Stéphane, Alain, and the DMA team have established a strong reputation for providing customers with highly profitable alternatives to traditional OEM parts. These alternatives often offer better quality, reliability, and performance.”
“American Holt and DMA are well-regarded brands in the aftermarket parts industry. Together, they offer a compelling value proposition to end users of food and beverage machinery, serving as a leading provider of high-quality parts.”
“We are excited to continue expanding our portfolio of products and service capabilities to better serve our customers.”
