The Bemis Company (Minneapolis / USA; www.bemis.com), one of the world´s leading manufacturers of flexible packaging materials with sales of USD 2.3 bn, is acquiring the Walki Films division of Finnish paper giant UPM- Kymmene (FIN-00101 Helsinki; www.upm-kymmene.com) for USD 70m at the end of the year. In return, UPM will take over the worldwide MACtac business (www.mactac.com) from Bemis for USD 420m. Both deals are to be settled in cash.

With sales of EUR 123m and 500 employees, Walki is one of the big European producers of high barrier film (vacuum and modified atmosphere) for foods. With the acquisition, Bemis will double its European sales and thus considerably reinforce its presence in Europe. The two Walki facilities in Valkoakoski / Finland and Epernon / France will continue to operate under the management of Bemis.

MACtac produces two-sided adhesive tape and self-adhesive film for labels, as well as for graphic and decorative products, achieving sales of USD 491m. Apart from six facilities in the US and Mexico, the Belgian plant (Mactac Europe S.A., B-7060 Soignes; www.mactac.com) also forms part of the acquisition. Mactac additionally operates a worldwide distribution network. UPM will allocate the division to its own Raflatac business (www.raflatac.com). Raflatac already achieves sales of EUR 670m from self-adhesive labels in paper and plastic and has almost 2,000 employees worldwide. The UPM group as a whole records sales of some EUR 10 bn with 36,000 employees in more than 300 plants worldwide.