Thimm VerPackung to Acquire Polish Company's Corrugated Division
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Germany-based Thimm Verpackung will acquire the corrugated packaging division of Tektura Opakowania Papier (TOP), a company based in the southern Poland town of Tychy. The manufacturer of corrugated board transport and sales packaging, which achieved a turnover of EUR 17 million in 2010, employing 170 people, will be taken over after approval by the Polish anti-monopoly office. The company will be jointly owned by the Northeim-based packaging specialist Thimm, with a 51% stake, and Spanish company Saica (S.A. Industrias Celulosa Aragonesa), with a 49% stake. These two family businesses have been working together in a strategic sales alliance since the late 1990s. TOP's paper and board divisions are not part of the acquisition deal.
Jeremiasz Zaleski, GM of TOP Packaging Division, noted that "my colleagues and I are delighted that we have been acquired by two such prestigious international companies who have previously not been present in the Polish market. Significant additional investment is planned to increase our capacity and widen our capabilities, which we are confident will make TOP an even more attractive supplier to an extended range of local, national, and multi-national customers."
This move into the Polish market will also allow Thimm Verpackung to continue its growth strategy in Central and Eastern Europe. The Northeim-based family business is already operating its own production facilities in the Czech Republic and Romania. With the newly acquired plant in South Poland, Thimm is now in a position to serve much of Poland and neighboring export markets.
Jens Fokuhl, managing director of the Thimm Group explained that "strategic takeovers such as the acquisition of TOP in Poland are a key part of our growth strategy. We thus continue to focus on the internationalization of our business and are developing the largest Eastern European market in the EU for our packaging operations." Per-capita consumption of corrugated cardboard in Eastern Europe currently is well below that of Western Europe. Thimm expects substantial growth due to positive economic development in the region, especially in Poland.
Fokuhl added that "both TOP's business model and their client and product portfolio match our operations ideally. TOP specializes in high-quality printed packaging, their technical facilities are good. These factors were pivotal in Thimm's decision to enter the Polish market through acquisition."
Susana Alejandro, managing director of Saica Pack added that "the acquisition is part of Saica's long-term strategy to become a global player in Europe. Saica has ambitious expansion plans with regard to corrugated business in Poland in order to strengthen Saica's long term commitment to its customers and the key importance of the Polish market for the group."
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