Thimm Verpackung Enters Polish Market with TOP Acquisition

Thimm Verpackung, Germany, will acquire the corrugated packaging division of Tektura Opakowania Papier (TOP), a company based in the southern Polish town of Tychy. The manufacturer of corrugated board transport and sales packaging, which achieved a turnover of EUR 17 million in 2010, employing 170 people, will be taken over after approval by the Polish anti-monopoly office. The company will be jointly owned by the Northeim-based Thimm, with a 51% percent stake, and Spanish company Saica (S.A. Industrias Celulosa Aragonesa), with a 49% stake. These two family businesses have been working together in a strategic sales alliance since the late 1990s. TOP's paper and board divisions are not part of the acquisition deal.

Jeremiasz Zaleski, GM of TOP Packaging Division said that "my colleagues and I are delighted that we have been acquired by two such prestigious international companies who have previously not been present in the Polish market. Significant additional investment is planned to increase our capacity and widen our capabilities, which we are confident will make TOP an even more attractive supplier to an extended range of local, national, and multi-national customers."

This move into the Polish market will also allow Thimm to continue its growth strategy in Central and Eastern Europe. The company is already operating its own production facilities in the Czech Republic and Romania. With the newly acquired plant in South Poland, it will be in a position to serve much of Poland and neighboring export markets.

Jens Fokuhl, managing director of the Thimm Group, notes that per-capita consumption of corrugated cardboard in Eastern Europe currently lies well below that of Western Europe. Thimm expects substantial growth thanks to positive economic development in the region, especially in Poland, he notes.

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