news APPE adds preform lines
PET packaging fi rm APPE has completed a £10m investment in preform production systems at its plant at Gresford in the UK, increasing annual capacity by 1.5bn units. The investment includes
fi ve Husky preform moulding systems supported by new materials handling infrastruc-
ture, resin dryers and water chilling systems from Piovan. It lifts capacity to 8bn preforms a year, which APPE said confi rms the site’s position as the largest preform production operation in Europe. The investment is intended
to support growing demand. “APPE has successfully
renewed existing contracts and has also won new business despite our parent company (LSB) entering voluntary insolvency in 2013,” said George Hendry, APPE UK Commercial Director. US-based Plastipak
Packaging acquired the APPE
operation in 2014, bidding €360m for the business. That deal is expected to close this summer. “The company has worked
Gresford’s injection moulding hall
very closely with our custom- ers throughout this period to retain our position as Europe’s premier PET preform & container designer and manufacturer,” said Hendry.
www.appe.com
WEMO and Hahn merge robots
Sweden’s WEMO Automation has announced its merger with German robotics specialist Hahn Automation Components to form a new Germany-head- quartered business named Wemo Automation. The new company brings
together a workforce of around 90 people at its sites in Germany, Sweden and India.
The merged enterprise represents combined sales of around €20m and will build around 400 robots in 2015. A new Technical Centre will be established at Reinheim in Germany, which is a key market for the business. Both WEMO and Hahn build
linear robots for plastics industry applications but are
said to have a complementary range – while Hahn’s focus is on automotive and technical applications WEMO serves predominantly E&E and packaging sectors. In a statement, the companies said future product lines would use common hardware and software.
www.wemo.se
3i buys Weener Packaging
Investment group 3i has paid around €250m to acquire Lindsay Goldberg Vogel’s stake in Germany’s Weener Plastic Packaging. Weener designs and
manufactures caps, closures, jars and bottles at 24 locations in 15 countries. The company acquired the Netherlands-based Plasticum injection moulding operation in 2012 and generated group sales of around €270m in 2014. “With the support of 3i,
we will be able to take our company’s development to the next level by fostering growth, expanding our global footprint, continuing to build our innovation leadership and further improving the effi ciency and effectiveness of our operations,” said Weener CEO Roel Zeevat. 3i said former Rexam CEO Leslie Van de Walle will join Weener’s Advisory Board.
www.wppg.com
www.3i.com
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