Carton, Board & PaperLatest NewsUK & Ireland

Coveris acquires St Neots Packaging

On Jun 12, 2014 519

Coveris today announced the acquisition of St Neots packaging as part of a strategic move to support their continued growth in cartonboard.
Established in 1994 St Neots is a leading manufacturer of cartonboard solutions for the food-to-go and convenience markets. Supplying film-lined sandwich packaging, bespoke cartons and other consumer products to the UK’s major retail and foodservice customers, the company’s turnover has doubled in the past five years.
“St Neots provides a hugely exciting opportunity for Coveris, enabling our customers to benefit from increased resources, shared knowledge and enhanced innovation potential,” says Mark Lapping, president of Coveris’ UK Food & Consumer business. “As a great addition to our existing cartonboard operation the move enables us to provide a dedicated packaging offering to better serve customers in both FMCG cartonboard and food-to-go packaging markets.”
The strategic acquisition supports Coveris’ long-term plans for growth in new and existing markets with a particular focus on the growing convenience and food-to-go sectors. The two St Neots’ facilities in Cambridgeshire, UK and sourcing office in Hong Kong complement Coveris’ existing cartonboard operation in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.
This news comes after St Neots recently announced that they had significantly increased capacity following their investment in UK’s first KBA Rapida 145 large format press to deliver 40% more cartonboard capacity.
With over 200 staff based in the UK and Hong Kong St Neots bring a wealth of experience, unique capabilities and a leading reputation for service. Enabling the business to target a growing interest in global convenience markets the move supports the company’s existing foodservice offering in the UK and Europe.
“The backing of the Coveris group marks a major development for St Neots and enables the business to accelerate growth to its next phase,” comments St Neots chairman Andy Ducker. “With Coveris’ experience, shared values of service and innovation and extensive knowledge of our products the acquisition provides a very exciting opportunity for our staff and customers to grow.”
The acquisition now places Coveris’ UK food & consumer sales in excess of £400m with over 2000 staff and 16 UK sites.
Today’s announcement comes days after the group announced the integration of KubeTech Custom Molding, a leading North American manufacturer of rigid packaging solutions to bolster the company’s rigid packaging offering to customers in North America.