‘Significant’ M&A occurring in European flexible packaging market

The company’s Flexible Packaging Supply Demand Study – Europe to 2021 study has reported Europe’s 13.8 billion EUR (16.6 billion USD) flexible packaging market as remaining one of the largest and most sophisticated in the world, accounting for around 18 percent of the global total in 2016. Italy, Poland and Turkey have been identified as the fastest growing major flexible packaging markets in Europe in 2016.

Further, M&A activity in flexible packaging over the past year has occured, with 26 converters with more than 100 million of EUR (120.5 million USD) of flexible packaging sales now account for nearly 70 percent of the total market.

The a major development highlighted in the study is the rapid emergence of Spanish international paper group SAICA as a player in flexible packaging, having acquired Italy’s Centroplast, Americk Packaging in the UK and three Netherlands based businesses – Schut Flexible Packaging, Hellema Verpakkingen, and Lemapack Flexible Packaging. Mondi has also been very active, having concluded three bolt-on acquisitions with Uralplast (Russia), Kalenobel (Turkey) and Excelsior Technologies (UK).

PCI Wood Mackenzie, via its Films and Flexible Packaging consultancy business (formerly PCI Films Consulting), offers an extensive range of consulting services to those involved in the production and use of flexible packaging materials around the world. The company produces dedicated quarterly business reports and in-depth regional supply/demand studies for the polyester, polypropylene, nylon film and flexible packaging markets.

Read Bob Cronin's regular M&A column in Labels & Labeling, and here