14 April 2020

Arconvert excited by synergies with Ritrama

In one of the label industry’s most notable M&A deals of recent times, Fedrigoni Group, the owner of Arconvert, has completed its acquisition of Ritrama. The agreement, which creates Europe’s third-largest self-adhesive materials manufacturer, was signed in October 2019 and finalized in January. Ritrama’s 400 million EUR revenue in 2018, coupled with Fedrigoni’s revenue of 1.2 billion EUR in the same year, amount to total revenues of the combined group of approximately 1.6 billion EUR.

Following the acquisition of Ritrama, Fedrigoni Group now has a turnover of 1.6 billion euros

Fulvio Capussotti, executive vice president, Pressure-Sensitive Label Business Unit of Fedrigoni Group, describes the acquisition as fitting the group’s wider strategy of consolidating its presence in the fields of specialty papers and self-adhesive materials, and sees synergies between the respective companies’ product lines.

‘With Ritrama’s strength focused on pressure-sensitive film materials, visual communication materials and industrial products and Arconvert’s focus on premium papers, our customers will be better served with a full-range of solutions for self-adhesive labels, with an extremely diversified state-of-the-art offer, both from a technological and aesthetical point of view,’ he says.

‘Thanks to the acquisition, we can now combine Fedrigoni’s excellence in the production of wine labels, and labels for food, household and logistics markets, with the advanced self-adhesive technologies of Ritrama, which is one of the top global producers of labels for the pharmaceutical, beverage and personal care industries. Ritrama, through the visual communication and industrial range products, complements Fedrigoni’s portfolio.

‘To better communicate the new added value coming from the integration, we are working on a rebranding strategy, leveraging both the high value of Arconvert, Manter [Arconvert’s premium self-adhesive material brand] and Ritrama and the long heritage of Fedrigoni’s umbrella brand. We are working on giving a clear message to the market, helping clients to easily find what they need and to keep and strengthen the trust and relationship they have built with each company, focusing on the brands’ respective competitive advantages and specialization verticals.’

Global footprint
Ritrama certainly adds to Fedrigoni’s global footprint, with manufacturing operations in Italy, Spain, the UK, Chile and China, as well as 10 slitting and distribution centers in Latin America, Poland and South Africa.

‘Arconvert and Ritrama joining forces will give the Pressure -Sensitive Business Unit of the Fedrigoni Group a strong presence in the key markets on an international level, which will further strengthen our ambition to be a truly global player,’ continues Capussotti.

‘Then, apart from obvious advantages such as logistic continuity and quality consistency of the exclusive facestock materials produced by the mother company Fedrigoni, the competitive advantage of the group is not just being the only player on the market offering premium tailor-made coordinated solutions for luxury packaging.

‘Another pivotal advantage, compared with other competitors, is the flexibility that both Arconvert and Ritrama can provide the customers with.

‘We only see strong synergies with Ritrama’s operations, which will allow us to better satisfy our customers’ needs with combined know-how, expertise and different technologies.’

Ritrama will continue to develop its Core Linerless Solution. ‘We will continue to further invest in this and other technologies to be at the forefront of pressure-sensitive label solutions,’ confirms Capussotti. ‘Our R&D teams are working hard to develop more and more sustainable solutions for the label industry.’

On the subject of sustainability, Capussotti continues: ‘Fedrigoni Group, since 2013, is the only graphic specialty player in Europe to go through the assessment of the Environmental Paper Company Index (EPCI), a WWF tool to increase transparency and awareness on how the pulp, paper and packaging sectors can reduce their footprint and demonstrate leadership in disclosing environmental information.

‘Fedrigoni adheres to the Ethics Code of the European paper industry and exclusively uses pulp from forests managed in accordance with sustainable forestry schemes, regulated and recognized on an international scale, especially FSC, in terms of both traceability (Chain of Custody2) and controlled origin of wood (Controlled Wood3).

‘Most of Fedrigoni’s and Arconvert’s papers contain recycled fibers, or fibers from annually renewable plants like linen, bamboo, hemp or sugar cane. Moreover, there is a cogeneration plant in all group production sites and, despite the production growth of 69 percent during the past 13 years, we have managed to reduce CO2 emissions by 29 percent, nitrous oxides by 48 percent, water consumption by 50 percent, and waste production by 15 percent. Fedrigoni also adheres to labels and marks of a voluntary nature, accompanying products to confirm their specific ecological and safety attributes in compliance with the ISO 14021 standard.

‘Our strong commitment to sustainability will continue in the coming years.’