Displaying items by tag: Sofidel

Italian tissue producer Sofidel has agreed to buy UK-based LPC Group, it was announced in late May. Completion of the deal will create Europe's second biggest tissue producer with a combined annual turnover of €1.3 billion, the companies stated in a joint statement. "The enlarged group will be able to serve its customers with a broader range of products from its reinforced manufacturing base in Northern and Southern Europe."

The announcement of the takeover came just days after Sofidel said its Polish subsidiary Delitissue Sp. Zo. had acquired 30% of the share capital of Comceh SA, a Romanian company with its head office at Calarasi, in South Romania with annual sales of around €35 million.

Sofidel is headquartered in Lucca, Italy, and has 17 manufacturing operations in eight countries across Europe. It employs 3200 people, makes more than 700,000 tons/yr of tissue, and last year generated sales of more than €1 billion.

LPC Group is based in Leicester, UK. It has manufacturing bases in four countries and makes nearly 190,000 tons/yr of tissue. It employs 1120 people and in the year to 30 September 2009 generated sales of £236 million, though it made a loss of almost £5 million for the period.

Late last year LPC said that it was planning a £40 million expansion at its Hamilton plant. In early 2010 it announced a move into converting at Roanne in France and said it was looking for further acquisitions. Demand for its products in the UK was booming, it said, and it was having to import paper from Germany to meet it.

And in a press statement issued in mid-May, the group added: "Following continued expansion LPC Group are celebrating their most successful year to date and also their 30th anniversary. From modest beginnings LPC group has grown to become one of the biggest suppliers of private label tissue products in Europe."

"The cornerstone of the groups success to date has been a deep rooted commitment to customer service and innovative product development. By working with their customers to develop class leading new products or simply developing current products and packaging to meet market needs LPC have maintained their positive growth."

This dedication to innovation and development is matched with investment in state of the art equipment that enables LPC to maintain the most efficient production levels and highest quality standards while meeting increased customer demand.

"Within the investment the company has developed the capability to manufacture tissue with Conventional, Tissueflex and Through-Air-Dried processes. This technical lead has enabled LPC to produce innovative tissue products that out-perform the leading brands in each sector."

Completion of the LPC deal is subject to receipt of the required regulatory approval in Germany, the companies' statement notes.

Comceh strengthens Eastern European position
Established in 1962 and privatised in 2000, Comceh is one of the key businesses in the Romanian paper industry, with a 31% share in the toilet tissue sector, (22% branded products and 9% private label products) and a 27% share in the kitchen towel sector (9% branded products and 18% private label).

Such an operation is considered part of a strategy which by means of achievable synergies between the two companies reinforces the internationalisation within, both from a commercial and a production aspect. It also gives the company a presence in the target markets of the group over the forthcoming years.

Current production capacity is around 35,000 tons/yr, with a total of 260 employees.

Comceh is located in a strategic position between Bucharest and Costanza, near the Bulgarian border, ideal for supplying the countries of South East Europe, Sofidel said in a statement.

The plant is situated on the Borcea canal, which is a branch of the Danube, the most important waterway in Europe, which, linked by the Meno and Reno rivers joins Rotterdam and Costanza. The site also has a rail link and loading  platforms. (See Tissue World November 2009 for fuller details on Comceh).

The new acquisitions are the latest in a long line over the past year for Sofidel. At the end of 2009 it bought Greek company Papyros, which has capacity of 25,000 tons/yr on a single modern Recard machine. Earlier in 2010 it created Sofidel Papir, a new company in Croatia to extend its coverage of the Balkan markets.

Sofidel submits environmental impact material for new French mill (News from RISI)
Sofidel is moving forward with plans to build a new integrated paper mill in France. The company's French subsidiary, Delipapier, has prepared materials for an environmental impact study for the new plant which it submitted to French authorities last week, according to Delipapier's Jean-Paul Cussenot. The company expects a response at the beginning of next year, he said.

The facility, which will be located in Ingrandes, western France, will house a tissue machine and a number of converting lines and will have a capacity of some 50,000 tons/yr.

Once the green light is given, work on the first phase of the project will begin immediately, with the converting facility to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2011. The second stage of the project will involve the construction of the tissue mill itself. That should begin in 2012, with paper production to launch in 2014.

Suppliers for the €120 million project have not been selected yet.

Delipapier plans to shut down its nearby converting facility in Buxeuil once converting operations start at Ingrandes. The 60 employees there will be transferred to the Ingrandes operation along with the old facility's converting lines, according to Cussenot.

With the new plant, Sofidel aims to increase capacity in the west and southwest of France, particularly in the away-from-home sector.

Delipapier owns another mill in France, in Frouard, in the northeast of the country. That facilty houses two 60,000 ton/yr tissue machines.

source: www.ubmasia.com