PACKAGING BRIEFS—Tuesday, January  4

Sakata Inx acquires additional interest in Toyo Ink
Sakata Inx Corp. acquires an additional 3 million shares of Toyo Ink Mfg. Co. Ltd., with which Sakata Inx has capital and business ties.   The number of shares Sakata Inx held before acquisition was 11,595,000. SAKATA INX now holds 14,595,000 shares.

Boise names new chief financial officer
Boise Inc. names Samuel K. Cotterell as senior vp and chief financial officer. The company also announced that Robert M. McNutt resigned his position as senior vice president and chief financial officer effective December 31, 2010, to pursue another employment opportunity.
 

Shiner Intl wins three China packaging federation honors
Shiner Intl Inc., a supplier of anti-counterfeiting and advanced packaging products, has received three honors from the China Packaging Federation, a national organization dedicated to promoting the sustained growth and development of China's packaging industry.

BWAY Holding Co. acquires Phoenix Container
BWAY Holding Company, a North American supplier of general line rigid containers, acquires Phoenix Container, Inc., in a stock purchase transaction. Phoenix Container, operates one plant in North Brunswick, NJ, which produces a wide range of steel pails used for packaging industrial and consumer products.
 

Quadpack buys majority share in Spirit
Quadpack acquires a majority stake in Spirit, a provider of promotional items for the health and beauty industries. Acquisition of Spirit also allows Quadpack to offer a broader range of complimentary products. Spirit provides a variety of stitch-and-sew bags (cosmetic, brush, clutch, tote, travellers, wash bags, etc.) and clothing (dressing gowns, slippers, etc), as well as beauty and spa accessories (muslins, brushes, manicure sets, mirrors, etc), all aimed at enhancing brand image.

Optima Group acquires Metall + Plastic GmbH
Optima Group in Schwaebisch Hall, a manufacturer of isolators and e-beam sterilizers used in pharmaceutical filling and packaging lines, acquires Metall + Plastic GmbH. With its product range, Metall + Plastic rounds off the Optima Group Pharma brand portfolio with pharmaceutical filling and closing now united with isolator technology. The driving motivation for the acquisition was the ability to bring turnkey solutions to market.

Cereplast secures $5 Million in growth capital

Cereplast Inc. secures $5 million in growth capital from Horizon Technology Finance Corp.  According to the terms of the loan agreement, Cereplast received an initial installment of $2.5 million with an additional $2.5 million to be funded during its 2011 first quarter ending March 31, 2011, pending reaching certain revenue targets for January and February of 2011.

Casey Container Corp. terminates acquisition talks with Mountain Green of Arizona
Casey Container to focus entirely on ramping up biodegradable plastic preforms and bottle manufacturing capacity.  In light of this focus, the Company has terminated acquisition negotiations with Mountain Green of Arizona, LLC. and will deploy its resources exclusively to meet immediate and escalating demand for biodegradable preforms and bottling products produced using EcoPure, a second-generation proprietary and organic additive licensed to Casey, which when combined with resin used to produce plastic bottles and containers renders the plastic biodegradable.

RPA announces new leadership team
The Reusable Packaging Assn (RPA) has elected its 2011 Executive Committee and Board members. The new leadership includes several returning members as well as an expanded board to reflect the association’s growth.  The 2011 RPA Executive Committee will be led by Drew Merrill, chairman of the board. Mr. Merrill, vp of business development  and strategic planning, Container and Pooling Solutions Inc. Other Executive Committee members are: Mike Hatchman, RPA vice chairman, and senior v.p. of business development, IFCO Systems N.A. Inc.; John Frey, RPA secretary/treasurer, and president of Tosca Ltd; Jon Kalin, RPA immediate past chairman (ex officio) and sales and marketing manager, Rehrig Pacific Company; and Jerry Welcome, RPA president and CEO (ex officio). The members of the 2011 RPA Board of Directors are: Phil Davis, senior perishables supply chain manager, The Kroger Co.;  Dave Harvey, business development –director, IPL Inc.; Robert Engle, president NA, Schoeller Arca Systems Inc., serving a second term; Pat Kennedy, president, The Kennedy Group;  Eric Frank, GM -RPC LLC, Georgia Pacific, serving a second term; Norm Kukuk, vp of product management, Orbis Corp.; Carl Glick, senior  vp of operations, Polymer Logistics, US; Rich Larson, national accounts manager, Buckhorn Inc.; Lewis Taffer, chief marketing officer, iGPS; Robert Zachrich, vp of sales and marketing, The Fabri-Form Co., serving a second term, and Rick Sasse, direc­tor of Cus­tom Trans­port Pack­ag­ing, Trienda LLC.

Colorpak to acquire Carter Holt Harey's folding carton business

Colorpak Ltd (Colorpak) signs sale agreement to acquire Carter with Carter Holt Harvey (CHH) for the purchase of CHH's folding carton businesses conducted at Reservoir and Mount Waverley in Victoria, Villawood in NSW and Auckland in New Zealand for a total consideration of AUD $5.0 million.

Alcoa names new v.p. of government affairs
Alcoa names Keith Walton v.p. of government affairs, effective today. Walton succeeds Russell Wisor, who is retiring after 33 years of service. Walton will lead all of Alcoa's federal and state government affairs activities in the U.S. He will be based in the company's government affairs office in Washington, DC.

RKW acquires Danafilms to expand N.A. presence
RKW SE has acquired Danafilms Inc. RKW's acquisition of the U.S.-based lamination, label, lidding and barrier films producer will increase the company's presence in the North American market for plastic films. Together with the existing RKW sales office near Atlanta, GA, the acquisition of Danafilms will provide RKW with three locations in the U.S. serving the North American market.

Packaging Solutions Holdings announces new vp for business development
Packaging Solutions Holdings Inc. has named Jon N. Solberg as vp for business development, effective immediately. Solberg will lead Packaging Solutions Holdings’ initiatives in the cheese and meat packaging markets. Prior to Packaging Solutions Holdings, Mr. Solberg was product applications manager at PCC Industries.  In addition, he held sales positions at Pliant Corp., and he was Intl supply chain director at Commercial Packaging and director of sales and marketing at American Plastics Co.  

Riverdale Capital to acquire N.A. rights to market, develop PVA Film technology
Riverdale Capital Ltd. has entered into an agreement to acquire WSPVA Bio Products International, LLC.  The acquisition will result in 100 percent ownership by RICP of WSPVA, which holds an exclusive license to develop and market water-soluble, non-toxic, biodegradable, alcohol-based PVA film in North America utilizing a patented machine technology.

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