Constantia Flexibles (Vienna / Austria; www.cflex.com) has agreed to buy a majority shareholding in the Indian film-based laminates producer Creative Polypack (Kolkata, West Bengal; www.creativepolypack.com) for an undisclosed sum. The deal is expected to be completed in the coming weeks, pending regulatory approvals.

Family-owned Creative Polypack was founded in 1986 and claims to be India’s fourth largest flexible packaging business. Employing around 850 staff in eight production sites in northern, eastern and southern India, it is expected to achieve sales of about EUR 75m in the current financial year, manufacturing film-based flexible packaging for the food and home and personal care industries, as well as paper-based soap wrappers for domestic and international consumer goods firms in India. Creative’s senior management will remain in their current roles.

Constantia already has a flexible packaging operation in India, Ahmedabad-based Parikh Packaging, which the Austrian company bought in 2013 – see Plasteurope.com of 09.04.2013. Constantia is currently building a plant near the production site in Ahmedabad, with an investment of around INR 1 bn (about EUR 12.5m) for the capacity expansion – see Plasteurope.com of 13.02.2018. Alexander Baumgartner, Constantia Flexibles’ chief executive, said the latest deal would make his company India’s third-largest flexible packaging company.

In 2016 Constantia recorded a turnover of EUR 2.1 bn and EBITDA of EUR 302m and employed around 10,000 staff worldwide. With around 850 employees, Creative Polypack generated sales of about EUR 75m in 2017.