MOVERS & SHAKERS

Serac Inc., Carol Stream, IL, the subsidiary of the Serac Group, hires Acyr Borges as president and Alan Bonanno as new business developer and marketing coordinator.

The MATLET Group hires Renzo Sparavier as director of strategic accounts based in Cincinnati.

Ball Corp. elects John Hayes, current president and CEO, as chairman of the board. R. David Hoover, who had been chairman since 2002, will remain on the board as a director. Additionally, the company elects Michael Feldser, Gerrit Heske and Robert Strain as new corporate officers and appoints Theodore Solso as lead independent director.

Husky Injection Molding Systems promotes Gerardo Chiaia to president, Hot Runners and Keith Carlton to vp, global sales, beverage packaging. They will continue serving as members of Husky's executive team.

Intel Corp. promotes Brian Krzanich to CEO and Renee James to president.

Bosch Packaging Technology SA, Romanel, Switzerland, appoints Frank Souyris as general manager for the robotics unit.

GS1 US appoints Gregory Rogers as vp, human resources. He is responsible for developing a comprehensive human capital management program to further drive organizational effectiveness.

Schulman promotes Bernard Rzepka to executive vp COO and names Heinrich Lingnau as vp and general manager of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

The Conair Group names Peter Armbruster as national sales manager with responsibility for all sales regions and local independent sales agents in the U.S. and Canada.

The Kuhne Group hires Adolfo Edgar as vp, blown-film systems, based in Mississauga, ON.

INX Intl. Ink Co. promotes Rick Westrom from svp of strategic sourcing to svp-research and development director and hires Craig Reid as director of global strategy-digital.

Oystar USA hires John Panaseny as president.

GROWING & GOING

Zip-Pak, a division of Illinois Tool Works based in Manteno, IL, opens a new 46,000-sq-ft manufacturing facility in Cabreuva, São Paulo, Brazil. It will produce food-grade resealable zippers primarily for food, pet and household consumer products.

CCL Industries Inc. opens a new sales, distribution and technical service center in Johannesburg, South Africa.

BUYING & ALLYING

Four packaging companies in North America and Europe join with Exopack to operate as one global leader under the banner of Exopack Holdings Sarl, a new Luxembourg company. The combined businesses-- Britton Group, a flexible plastic packaging manufacturer; PACCOR, the second-largest rigid plastic packaging company in Europe; Kobusch, a producer of tailor-made flexible and rigid packaging systems; and Paragon Print & Packaging, a leader in private label packaging solutions in the UK- have 63 plants, 8,650 employees and aggregate revenues of more than US$2.5 billion, making Exopack Holdings Sarl the sixth-largest plastics packaging company in the world.

Pregis Corp., a supplier of protective packaging solutions, has acquired Surface Guard, a manufacturer of protective films and Pack and Guard cohesive packaging materials.

Solvay and INEOS combine their European chlorvinyls activities in a proposed 50/50 joint venture that will form a PVC producer ranking among the top three worldwide.

Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, acquires Life Technologies Corp., Carlsbad, CA, for $13.6 billion, plus the assumption of net debt at close ($2.2 billion as of year end 2012).

ACHIEVEMENTS

Dynamic Conveyor Corp., a conveyor manufacturer in Muskegon, MI, has received the Gold Distinguished Safety Award from the Society of Plastics Industry (SPI). The award was given to recognize that Dynamic Conveyor was a worksite with no occupational injuries or illnesses, as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), during the calendar year 2012.

Sonoco's retail point-of-purchase display and packaging services business won three awards at the Point of Purchase Advertising International (POPAI) 55th annual Outstanding Marketing at Retail Achievement (OMA) competition. Sonoco won a silver award for its Michelin Defender Tire Demonstrator semi-permanent display and a Bronze award for its Robert Bosch STEEL TECH Wiper temporary end cap display, both in the services and transportation category. It also received a bronze award for its Elizabeth Arden Justin Bieber Someday fragrance launch temporary étagère display in the drug store retailer category.

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