The Americk Packaging Group is a leading independent producer of flexible packaging. Located across six sites in Ireland and the UK, it employs 691 people with turnover of around £110 million in 2015. Acquiring the Americk Packaging Group enables SAICA to continue its development in the flexible packaging sector with the ability to offer a wider range of products and services to its customers.

Formed over 70 years ago, SAICA is a family-owned company with turnover of €2.4bn in 2015. It is the leading European company for the development and production of recycled paper for corrugated cardboard, producing 2.5 million tonnes of recycled paper annually. With more than 8,000 employees across Spain, Italy, Portugal, UK, Ireland, Turkey and Luxembourg, SAICA has four business areas: recycled paper production for corrugated cardboard (PAPER), recyclable materials recovery (NATUR), production of corrugated packaging (PACK) and flexible packaging (FLEX).

Leading the Squire Patton Boggs team was Corporate partner Edward Dawes, assisted by Corporate associate Claire O’Connor.

Squire Patton Boggs has been working with SAICA for many years, advising on the development of its operational infrastructure in the UK. Acquiring the Americk Packaging Group follows the acquisition of four privately owned recycling businesses, completed over a two-year period – Futur Recycling, Stirling Fibre, Cutts Recycling and Houghton’s Paper – which secured the critical supply of recovered paper and card as the raw material for SAICA’s state-of-the-art Manchester-based paper making plant.

Edward Dawes said “This multijurisdictional transaction marks our fifth acquisition for SAICA and is a clear example of post Brexit investment in the future of the UK’s economy. We are delighted to have worked with SAICA on this significant strategic acquisition.”

President of SAICA, Ramon Alejandro commented, “This agreement allows us to enter the flexible packaging market in Ireland and the UK more actively, hand in hand with a leading player. We carry out this acquisition with a view to the long-term and potential development of this sector.”