Rexam buys pharma packager for €125m

UK-based packaging company Rexam has reached an agreement to acquire all the shares of Risdon Pharma Development, a plastic pharmaceutical packaging business, for €125 million in cash.

Risdon Pharma, which was formerly owned by Crown Cork & Seal, is involved in various segments of the pharmaceutical packaging market from traditional products, such as eye droppers and nasal sprays, to medical devices including multidose dry powder inhalers for dispensing asthma drugs. It employs approximately 300 employees based at its factories in Offranville, France, and Neuenburg, Germany.

Over the past three years, Risdon's sales have grown at a compound annual rate of 15 per cent, reaching €51 million in 2002 and generating gross earnings of €13 million.

Commenting on today's announcement, Rolf Börjesson, Rexam's chief executive, said: "The acquisition of Risdon Pharma will strengthen our Plastics portfolio and make Rexam Beauty & Closures one of Europe's top pharmaceutical plastic packaging companies. It will also give us leading positions in a number of growth segments.​"

He added that the two businesses are complementary in terms of both technology and customer base and that there are good opportunities for synergies with Rexam's existing pharmaceutical packaging operations in closures and dispensing systems.