The Gerresheimer Group (Düsseldorf / Germany; www.gerresheimer.com) has acquired EDP (Épila / Spain; www.edp.es), continuing the international expansion of its business with the pharmaceutical and life science sectors. The manufacturer of plastic packaging for pharmaceuticals has two production facilities in Spain (Zaragoza and Valencia) and one in Argentina (Buenos Aires). The transaction is expected to close at the end of January 2008, and EDP should be fully integrated in the first half of the year.

Gerresheimer specialises in primary packaging and application systems for the pharmaceutical industry and claims to have had a strong position in the market for glass products such as syringe systems and pharmaceutical vials for many years. At the same time, it has been expanding its pharmaceutical and medical plastics business, chiefly in Europe.

The acquisition of EDP is a good fit with this strategy as it specialises in PET containers for pharmaceuticals, the German group said. The Spanish company has total sales of some EUR 32m a year, and its EBITDA margin is currently around 17%. The new owner expects to raise this to over 20 percent through "targeted technical and financial optimisation measures.”