Pliant Film Products GmbH (Waghäusel / Germany), the former German subsidiary of US-based Pliant Corporation (Schaumburg, Illinois; www.pliantcorp.com) has been renamed Berry Plastics GmbH. This reflects the acquisition of the plastic films manufacturer by packaging specialist Berry Plastics (Evansville, Indiana / USA; www.berryplastics.com) in December 2009, following Pliant’s emergence from bankruptcy – see Plasteurope.com of 20.10.2009. Both were partly owned by private equity company Apollo Management (New York City / USA; www.apolloic.com).

In spring of this year rumours suggested that Apollo might seek to acquire US packaging producer Pactiv (Lake Forest, Illinois; www.pactiv.com) and merge it with Berry. In the meantime, Berry is moving to shut down a number of smaller US production facilities, for a variety of reasons. Sites earmarked for closure include Battlesboro, North Carolina, Albertville, Alabama, in addition to Lakeville, Minnesota. Close to 500 employees are reported to be affected. The packaging producer operates more than 70 plants worldwide and employs a total of 13,000 people.