Photo by: Bloomberg
Boxmore Plastics SA has acquired packaging group Astrapak’s Hilfort Plastics Bloemfontein and Upington divisions for R41-million cash.
The amount will be paid by close of business on Friday and will be applied to reduce Astrapak's net borrowing position, Astrapak said on Wednesday, adding that the decision to dispose of Hilfort complemented Astrapak's strategic objective to focus on operations of scale.
“The plastic packaging market remains highly competitive; the fundamentals continue to change rapidly and remain sustainable, the single most important factor is operational scale,” said Astrapak CEO Robin Moore in a statement.
To date, Hilfort’s net assets were worth about R28-million and the yearly net profit after tax attributable to these net assets was about R5.3-million.
Hilfort operates in both Bloemfontein and Upington and manufactures and sells polyethylene terephthalate plastic bottles to segments within the beverage industry.