Plant acquisitions: Alpla to buy Spain’s Bopla; Ascend makes first acquisition in China

Alpla, the global packaging solutions and recycling specialist, is acquiring Bopla S.A. as part of an asset deal. Alpla says it intends to use the Spanish company’s expertise in the area of single-stage manufacturing technologies to expand its own product portfolio.

Founded in 1978, Bopla S.A. uses the technologies EBM (extrusion blow moulding) and ISBM (injection stretch blow moulding) to produce plastic packaging. The majority of its customers are from the cosmetics, personal and household care market segments. The site in Les Franqueses near Barcelona currently has a workforce of 50, with all the employees set to be kept on by Alpla.

“Bopla is well positioned in areas that belong to Alpla’s core lines of business. We also want to make the most of the company’s many years of experience with single-step manufacturing processes to expand our portfolio,’ says Marc de Voogd, General Manager Alpla France and Iberia.

“Alpla has already had a production plant in Les Franqueses since 1990, which will surely benefit the integration of the new site,” he added.

The contracting parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price or any of the details involved.

Meanwhile, US-based Ascend Performance Materials, the largest fully integrated producer of polyamide 66 resin, has signed an agreement to purchase the assets of NCM (Changshu) Co. and Tehe Engineering Plastic (Suzhou) Co, located in Changshu Yushan High-tech Industrial Park, one of the major advanced manufacturing parks in the eastern coastal area of China, 100 km outside of Shanghai.

The acquisition gives Ascend a flexible footprint for expansion in the region. The company’s master plan includes the installation of compounding assets at the site along with a global research and development centre with a focus on existing applications in the automotive, electrical and electronics, and consumer and industrial areas, as well as new ones in areas such as 3D-printing and high-performance films.

Phil McDivitt, Ascend’s President/CEO, said the purchase positions the company to better facilitate supply to customers in Asia and to support future market growth. “Ascend’s long-range plan includes providing world-class service to customers around the globe,” McDivitt said. “The Park, with its proximity to both China’s major automotive industry clusters and to Shanghai, made it an ideal choice for a hub to help us better reach the rapidly emerging markets in Asia.”

Dr. Kevin Wu, Senior Vice President/Managing Director for Ascend’s Asia-Pacific operations, said the new facility will help support speed-to-market efforts and localised customer support. “This is an exciting chapter for Ascend in Asia as it provides regional manufacturing and innovation capability to efficiently respond to customer needs and to customize formula solutions for Asian markets,” he said. “We are pleased that we have secured such a good location and we are grateful for the strong support given by local officials.”

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The company plans to take final ownership in August.

(PRA)

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