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Austria-headquartered ALPLA, a top global manufacturer and recycler of plastic packaging, announced on Thursday that acquired a majority stake in a Moroccan company as part of its expansion plans for North Africa.
The company said in a press statement that it has acquired a majority stake in local packaging company Atlantic Packaging and formed a joint venture called ALPLA Morocco with the acquired firm's previous owner Diana Holding.
The JV's approximately 12,000 square metre plant in the free trade zone of Tangier manufactures preforms, plastic pallets by injection moulding and packaging films by extrusion, the statement said.
In 2023, the plant's preform capacity was tripled from 100 million to around 300 million units per year with the addition of two production lines as part of first stage expansion. Future plans for the Tangier site include production of bottles and closures, according to the statement.
"Together with our strategic partner Diana Holding, we want to exploit the enormous potential of the regional markets, open up new segments and contribute our expertise as a global system provider for preforms, bottles and closures," said Christian Fessler, Managing Director Middle East and North Africa at ALPLA.
"Our joint vision is to be one of the leading suppliers of high-quality plastic packaging in Morocco and for Western Africa, and to offer innovative solutions. We created Atlantic Packaging with the vision of expanding its capacity through a strategic partnership. In ALPLA, which puts a great emphasis on the three P’s: People, Planet, Profit, we have found the ideal partner for this project, enabling the creation of further synergies," said Rita Maria Zniber, CEO of Diana Holding.
In addition to the know-how for the development and production of resource-saving plastic packaging made of recycled material, ALPLA Morocco is looking ahead to leverage its capabilities as a system provider and to introduce new technologies in the future.
"By manufacturing bottles, preforms and closures, as we already do in South Africa and Angola, we provide customers with successful products and sustainable solutions from a single source, giving them a market advantage," said Javier Delgado, ALPLA Regional Managing Director Africa, Middle East and Turkey.
(Writing by SA Kader; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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