RPC has acquired Crown's facilities in Marolles, near Le Mans in Northern France and Mozzate, near Varese in northern Italy in a deal that will complement existing production sites in Germany and the UK and help to expand the company's presence on a European-wide basis.
Both companies will now be integrated into the group's RPC Beauté division.
RPC beauté, Marolles currently manufactures a wide variety of primary packaging components for the cosmetics industry, including cosmetic and fragrance caps and closures, lipsticks and lip gloss, and eye care products for players such as Puig, Unilever and Jafra.
RPC beauté, Mozatte, manufactures a wide variety of primary packaging components for the cosmetics industry, including cosmetic and fragrance caps and closures, lipsticks and lip gloss, and eye care products to all major players in the industry.
RPC said that the acquisition would be funded from existing bank borrowing facilities, but did not reveal the price of the transaction. In 2005, sales from these operations were €45m, while EBITDA came in at €2m.
Crown Ridson is one of the world's leading providers of cosmetic packaging products, specialising in fragrance and colour cosmetics packaging. Its facilities are spread throughout the US and Europe, serving leading players such as L'Oreal, Coty, Shiseido and Avon.
In recent years Crown Ridson has invested significant money in implementing MRP systems at all its production facilities in an effort to incorporate the latest software and hardware technologies into the manufacturing operations.
Across all its manufacturing facilities, including the two that RPC has just acquired, the company has developed packaging capabilities in lipcare, eye care, caps and closures as well as providing complete design solutions.
RPC is Europe's leading rigid plastic packaging provider in Europe and claims to be in the unique position of offering the three main conversion process, blowmoulding, injection moulding and thermoforming.
Divided into eight business, its RPC Beaute and RPC Bramlage-Wiko divisions are the main divisions involved with supplying the personal care and cosmetics sectors.
The company says that the aim of this latest acquisition is to complement and strengthen RPC`s existing activities in the Beauty and Personal Care markets by providing facilities in France and Italy to consolidate its presence on the European market as a whole.
Ron Marsh, RPC Group Chief Executive said. "This acquisition will propel RPC to a leading position in the Beauty and Personal Care market. It is a market ideally suited to the application of RPC`s advanced technology, and one in which RPC already has a successful and growing presence."