MOSCOW (MRC) -- Finnish packaging company Huhtamaki, known for making paper cups for McDonald's, said on Tuesday it will buy Indian firm Positive Packaging for $336 million to increase its access to Indian and Middle Eastern markets, said Reuters.
India-based Positive Packaging is part of the Enpee Group. Positive Packaging has six plants in India and three in the United Arab Emirates.
Huhtamaki said Positive Packaging had sales of 220 million euros ($300 million) last year and employs about 2,500 staff in India and the United Arab Emirates. The deal is expected to be finalised in the autumn, Huhtamaki said.
"This increases our market share and supply capacity in India," a Huhtamaki spokeswoman said. "We also get a significantly better footprint in Africa and the Middle East."
Positive Packaging makes flexible packaging, made of plastic and used in a wide variety of products from chocolate bars to cat food. Positive Packaging's operations in Nigeria are not part of the acquisition, the spokeswoman said.
As MRC wrote before, Huhtamaki, the Finnish-based consumer packaging specialist with worldwide operations, will build a moulded fibre egg packaging unit adjacent to its existing packaging facility in the greater Moscow area.
The new unit will concentrate on a narrow range of high-volume premium egg packaging, with complementary products sourced from other Huhtamaki units and technology licensees. This supply network enables the company to start sales and deliveries while the new unit is still under construction. The company already has a specialised fresh foods sales force in Russia.
MRC