Leading packaging manufacturer Albéa (Gennevilliers / France; www.albea-group.com) has acquired laminate tubes producer Betts Group (Colchester / UK; www.betts-group.com). The purchase price of the deal, which closed on 26 January, was not disclosed. Both companies have strong positions in the personal and oral care markets.

Albéa is the former Alcan Packaging Beauty business; in the wake of this latest acquisition, the company is set to become the global leader in plastic and laminate tubes. Betts has six factories worldwide: two in India and one each in the UK, Poland, Indonesia and Mexico. Collectively these produce over 2.5 bn tubes annually, valued at GBP 100m (EUR 116m). Betts says it is the world’s largest company to focus solely on laminate tubes. Following a management buyout from Courtaulds Group in the late 1990s and in June 2010, Betts later was bought by private equity firm Sun European Partners (London / UK; www.suncappart.com), which also own Albéa.

“This acquisition is a strategic fit for both Albéa and Betts,” explained Francois Luscan, Albéa president and CEO, “The companies have complementary technologies, geographical footprint, product portfolio and R&D resources that will enable the combined entity to produce a broader product offering, increased innovation and development capacity.”

With the integration of the Betts Group, Albéa will operate 31 factories in 13 countries across Europe, the Americas and Asia. Its workforce will total 9,300.