Alpla-Werke Alwin Lehner GmbH & Co KG continues to grow at a rapid rate after announcing its biggest acquisition of the year in the form of Boxmore Packaging of South Africa. The company has been prolific this year and this is its fifth acquisition of the year.
This acquisition is part of the Austrian company’s goal of growth in Africa, which it sees as an attractive and growing market.
Boxmore is based out of Samrand, near Johannesburg and employs approximately 1000 people. It specializes in PET performs, PET bottles and closures.It has manufacturing units South Africa, Zambia and Mauritius.
“The African continent is an attractive growth market for us. With the purchase of Boxmore Packaging, we now also have a broad basis for entering the market in South Africa, in addition to our activities with Alpla Taba in North Africa,” said CEO Günther Lehner.
Alpla chose not disclose the details of the transaction but did reveal that it is the biggest acquisition in the company’s history.
This latest development follows Alpla’s June acquisitions of Italy’s Propack srl, Gehl Foods in West Bend and two other purchases in Romania between February and March.
Dominic Fiel, the Corporate Marketing and Brand Manager and the Alpla’s recent acquisitions are part of the company’s strategy of global growth. “Alpla grew very fast last year and we have found out that acquisitions are the right way forward,” Fiel said.
These moves represent a shift in strategy for Alpla. The company previously followed a policy of following customers into new regions. This has changed and now the company does its due diligence to find attractive markets and gets there through acquisitions.
Fiel says that Alpla are adequately represented in most parts of the world with the exception of Australia.
Post-acquisition, Boxmore’s management structure will remain the same with Alpla’s board managing the business and helping it integrate.
