AR Packaging acquired by CVC Capital Partners

CVC Capital Partners has signed a binding agreement to acquire 100 percent of AR Packaging Group from its current owners, Ahlstrom Capital and Accent Equity.

Founded in 2011 through the merger of A&R Carton and Flextrus, AR Packaging is one of Europe’s leading packaging companies with sales of approximately 560 million EUR with 2,200 employees across 17 factories in nine countries. The company has performed strongly in recent years, posting a 27 percent increase in net sales last year.

Headquartered in Lund, Sweden, the group is divided into three divisions:  Branded Products, Barrier Packaging and Food Packaging. Its products are predominantly used for folding carton and flexible packaging, as well as machinery systems, packaging design and development.

Peter Törnquist, CVC Nordic chairman, said: ‘AR Packaging is a key player in the European packaging space with an excellent management team, a strong product portfolio and many strategic client relationships. We believe there are significant opportunities to grow the business organically and through acquisitions while continuing to put customers first. We look forward to deploy CVC's global resources and to work with AR Packaging’s management team and employees in achieving their vision for the future.’

Harald Schulz, president and CEO of AR Packaging, added: ‘We are on an exciting trajectory, building on last year’s strong performance and operational progress, and I would like to take this moment to thank Ahlstrom Capital and Accent Equity for their support over the last years.’ Hans Sohlström, CEO of Ahlstrom Capital stated that, ‘it has been a pleasure to work with the management to build AR Packaging into a leading speciality packaging company that now stands on a strong footing to pursue the next steps in its development.

‘In CVC, the company will have a strong and global partner for the future and I would like to wish it and the management team all success in the next phase of the Company’s international growth.’

‘We are now well placed for the next phase of our development and CVC’s expertise, financial resources and global network make them the perfect partner to help us achieve our long-term growth ambitions,’ concluded Schulz.