Six facilities in Norway, Sweden and Denmark will be run as an empowered business unit under the dedicated brand name Peterson within the VPK group. With the new acquisition, consolidated turnover of VPK Packaging Group will now exceed the €1 billion milestone.
The acquisition of the six Scandinavian based facilities fits into VPK’s strategy to increase its geographical coverage, providing European customers with high quality corrugated packaging. The newly acquired business unit will expand this activity into the Scandinavian market. The total revenue of Peterson’s corrugating division reached €150 million in 2015.
Peterson will be led as an empowered and independent business unit keeping the strong local brand supported by VPK’s solid expertise. This is similar to VPK’s other business units such as Rigid (UK & Ireland), Ondulys (France) and Aquila (Poland). Maintaining close customer intimacy in the local markets combined with European coverage remains the common denominator in the group’s business development.
Dan Johannessen will fulfill the role of Managing Director and lead the Scandinavian Business Unit. Through VPK’s international alliance, Blue Box Partners, corrugating activities will stretch out from Norway to Spain and from Ireland to Romania through a dense network.
VPK has successfully adopted a sustainable growth strategy during recent decades. By combining greenfield start-ups in countries with growing purchasing power and acquisitions in more mature and stable growth areas, the group has managed to experience strong growth while maintaining balanced risk levels. The privately held group expects its consolidated turnover to exceed €1 billion with this new acquisition.
“Peterson Packaging is a leading provider in Scandinavia, servicing important customers in various markets such as food, drinks and FMCG. We are looking forward to continuing these activities, improving service levels and further developing wherever possible. Peterson’s long term business presence and close customer relationships fit in neatly with VPK’s sustainable growth approach. I am convinced that strengths of two proven companies will be combined in the new VPK Peterson brand,” explains CEO Pierre Macharis.
