Global packaging company Sonoco, Hartsville, SC, (NYSE: SON) has agreed to acquire Weidenhammer Packaging Group, a European provider of composite cans, drums and rigid plastic containers, for EU€286 million (US$383 million).
Weidenhammer Packaging, Hockenheim, Germany, has approximately 1,100 employees and operates 13 production facilities, including five in Germany, along with individual plants in Belgium, France, Greece, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States, Chile and Russia. In addition to producing composite cans, drums and luxury tubes, Weidenhammer produces unique rigid plastic containers using thin-walled injection molding technology with modern in-mold labeling.
According to M. Jack Sanders, Sonoco president and chief executive officer, the acquisition of family-owned Weidenhammer Packaging Group is expected to increase Sonoco's global consumer-related packaging and services business to $2.8 billion in annual sales or about 53 percent of the company's combined revenue of approximately $5.3 billion. In addition, the combination is expected to increase Sonoco's net sales in Europe to approximately 21 percent of total sales.
Weidenhammer Packaging's projected 2014 sales are expected to be approximately EU€244 million ($327 million), with projected EBITDA expected to be approximately EU€42 million (US$56 million).
