Chiltern has completed the acquisition of Finnish flexible packaging company, Amerplast. Chiltern has acquired 100% of the share capital of the business and will combine it with Hanmere Polythene (“Hanmere”) and Plasmech Packaging (“Plasmech”) to form an enlarged, pan-European group.

Amerplast is a well-established, regional market leader in the production of flexible packaging solutions, with a 60-year heritage in delivering products to B2C markets. Amerplast provides sustainable flexible packaging products to the food & beverage, hygiene, and retail segments. The company is based around two facilities in Poland and one in Finland (where it is headquartered). It also has sales offices in Russia, Sweden and Germany. Amerplast CEO, Mark Rooney, will become CEO of the group, working with Chairman, David Lennon and CFO, Jim Farrell, as well as the wider senior management team, to lead the business in delivering its ambitious growth plans.

This represents Chiltern’s third investment in the sector and its first non-UK acquisition, to establish a pan-European flexible packaging group focussed primarily on end markets in food, food processing, hygiene and personal care.

David Butler, Investment Manager at Chiltern, commented:

“We are delighted to back Mark, David, Jim and the rest of the management team at Hanmere and Amerplast as we see huge potential for further growth in the flexible packaging market across Europe. This acquisition demonstrates Chiltern’s desire to support its portfolio companies in delivering both organic and inorganic growth; working closely with our management teams to achieve their ambitions.”

David Lennon, Group Chairman, commented:

“Forming a group with Hanmere and Amerplast at its centre creates a significant new player in the mid-sized flexible packaging space in Europe with five class-leading manufacturing facilities, servicing a broad range of customers across the EU, UK and Russia. The leadership team look forward to working with Chiltern to continue to grow our platform through both organic growth and acquisitions in the years ahead.”