Flint Group completed a major investment in additional capacity at its water-based coatings site in Willstaett, Germany, and launched an extended range of Novaset specialty coatings.

Europac announced a €10m investment plan at its Lucena packaging plant to increase production, buy new assets and expand installations, expected to create 25 direct jobs.

Winpak Portion Packaging agreed with Dermody Properties' DP Partners to develop a 267,000 sq ft manufacturing facility in the DP LogistiCenter at Sauk Village, Illinois, creating 40 jobs, as part of a $30m investment.

PPG completed a $3m expansion of its packaging coatings manufacturing at its Oak Creek, Wisconsin plant, adding a 3,300 sq ft facility to produce food can coatings.

PPG opened a nearly $3 million expansion at its Oak Creek, Wisconsin, plant, adding a 3,300-square-foot facility for food-can coatings production.

ARI Packaging signed a 10-year lease for a building at 456 International Parkway in Minooka, Illinois, to serve as a manufacturing and distribution site. The article gives the size as both 445,479 and 456,479 square feet.

JB Machinery and Phoseon Technology have entered into an exclusive global sales agreement for UV LED technology into the sheetfed corrugated sector.

Pretium Packaging announced the acquisition of Patrick Products Inc., a rigid blow-molded plastic container producer based in Leipsic, Ohio, serving janitorial, automotive and household chemical markets. The deal combines the two companies' North American footprints.

Europac Group bought two companies holding an integrated corrugated packaging plant in Lucena, Córdoba, Spain, at an enterprise value of €9.8 million. The plant had 2016 sales of €7.6 million and will operate as Europac Packaging Lucena, with a planned €10 million investment and 25 direct jobs.

Oji Fibre Solutions unveiled upgraded and expanded facilities at its Penrose paper bag plant in Auckland after a NZ$30 million investment. The new conversion line adds 48 million dairy and food powder bags a year, bringing total output to about 100 million bags.

Nortech Packaging, a Chicago-based automation and controls solutions provider, acquired the assets of Tishma Innovations, a provider of cartoning, case packing, and specialty packaging machines, to expand its footprint in food, pharmaceutical, and confection markets.

Winpak Portion Packaging, Inc. held a groundbreaking ceremony for a 348,000-square-foot expansion to its existing facility in Sauk Village, Illinois, doubling its manufacturing, office and warehouse space.

Dunapack Packaging, through Mosburger GmbH, has closed the purchase of Eskisehir-based corrugated packaging plant ESK from Sisecam Group, which has an annual volume of about 160 million m2 (80,000 tons).

Amcor Flexibles will install a UV flexo printing press at its Kreuzlingen site in Switzerland to serve pharmaceutical packaging markets, as part of a European printing investment plan that also includes a digital press at Cramlington, UK.

Synerlink S.A., a supplier of packaging technology for the food industry, acquired Ermi, a manufacturer of ultra-clean and aseptic fill-seal bottle and cup fillers for dairy and juice products. Ermi is based in Dreux, France.

Amcor Flexibles is installing a UV flexo press at Kreuzlingen, Switzerland and a digital press at Cramlington, UK to serve healthcare customers in the UK, Switzerland and Germany, with operation expected in 2017.

Cristalchile will invest $100 million to expand a plant near Santiago, adding a new furnace with 400 tonnes/day melting capacity and increasing annual production by about 100,000 tonnes. The expansion is expected to start operations in the second half of 2019.

Goglio SpA and its subsidiary Goglio Cofibox SpA approved a merger by incorporation of Cofibox into Goglio, effective 31 December 2016, to rationalize management and achieve economies of scale in packaging.

Large format printer company Edison Solutions has selected Packsize International's EM7-35 On Demand Packaging system to improve its packaging processes and reduce shipping costs. The selection was announced on 28 March 2017.

Ball Corporation will invest US$11.2 million to expand its aluminum can production line at its Burzaco plant in Buenos Aires province, raising productive capacity by 60% and enlarging storage for over 40 million cans. The announcement was made on 28 March 2017.

Kansas City-based Alphapointe signed a seven-year contract to produce prescription bottles for Express Scripts Holding Co., a private-sector addition to its existing Veterans Affairs bottle contract, reported on 27 March 2017.

BWAY Corporation completed the acquisition of the assets of Ball Corporation's metal packaging business in Hubbard, Ohio, which produces general line, household and specialty metal containers, announced on 27 March 2017.

HRL, an Australian laboratory services firm, signed a three-year contract with O-I to provide analysis and spot testing of its glass container products, reported on 27 March 2017 and worth about $1 million.

Bemasa Caps SA, a Spanish manufacturer of caps and packaging machinery, has opened its first factory in Egypt, located in Obur City. The plant has 28 employees and an annual production capacity of 200 million units.

Rondo Ganahl AG is taking full control of Walz Verpackungen in Langenenslingen, Germany, a specialist in special packaging solutions with about 100 employees and turnover of €22 million. Bernd Walz remains CEO. The deal value was not disclosed.

OI European Group, a subsidiary of Owens-Illinois, agreed to raise €200 million through private placement of senior notes due 2024 at an annual interest rate of 3.12%.

Diecut UK reached an agreement with Fyne Packaging for the exclusive selling rights of Fyne's box-making machinery, including the Harrier and Vulcan box makers and the Hawk slitter/creaser.

Beverage Can Makers Europe (BCME) and European Metal Packaging (Empac) merged into a new entity, Metal Packaging Europe, based in Brussels. The combined company will produce about 85 billion cans a year at more than 450 sites.

A Dutch-headquartered international group invested €28 million to build the Nova Packaging corrugated carton plant in the Sindos industrial area, which began production in January 2017. The plant has annual capacity of about 85,000 tonnes and employed 65 people.

Pratt Industries opened a $60 million corrugated packaging facility in Beloit, Wisconsin on 20 March 2017. At full capacity the 350,000 sq ft plant will employ 140 people and produce 600 tons of recycled boxes a day.

Liberty Diversified International added to its packaging portfolio by acquiring a Midwest corrugated carton and display manufacturer based in Illinois. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Asheboro and Randolph County approved $190,000 in incentives for SouthCorr Packaging to expand its local operation with an $8 million investment and 22 new jobs, on top of its 96 existing Triad jobs.

Inline Plastics Corp. has added six new thermoforming lines and expanded its facilities, including 157,200 sq. ft. of space in Georgia, to meet growing demand for its food packaging products.

Uflex will start commercial operations at its new aseptic liquid packaging plant in Sanand, Gujarat in April 2017. The investment is Rs 580 crore and the plant will employ about 250 people.

COFCO Packaging (00906) announced its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary COFCO Packaging Investment will acquire 51% equity of Zhejiang Jihong Packaging from Jihong International for RMB 66.75 million (approx. US$9.7 million). The target company is building a two-piece can production line expected to start production in H2 2017.

Thong Guan Industries is investing about RM35 million to expand production in Sungai Petani, including a new nano-layered stretch film line starting in September 2017 and more PVC food-wrap lines.

Ranpak acquired e3neo, a packaging automation company based in France, which will operate as a separate business unit.

SternMaid invested in a new Doypack line to pack dry products in stand-up pouches, increasing filling capacity at its facility. The line will move to Plant 2 when completed at the end of 2017.

Lindal Group finalized plans to build a $20 million, 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility on 15 acres in the Woodside Northwest Industrial Park in Columbus, Indiana, consolidating its three local facilities. Peterson Co. of Indianapolis was chosen to build it, with groundbreaking planned for spring 2017.

Papiery Powlekane 'Pasaco' awarded a contract to Jurmet for the supply, installation, and commissioning of a new slitting and rewinding machine for silicone-coated paper, valued at €1,082,529.

Valmet will supply two containerboard production lines and automation systems for Nine Dragons Industries at Quanzhou and Chongqing, producing testliner and fluting from recycled fiber, with start-ups scheduled for 2018.

Premier Tech will invest $7 million to expand one of its Industrial Equipment Group plants in Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec, adding 2,300 m² and creating nearly 30 jobs over three years.

Finnish packaging group Huhtamaki will open a new paper cup production unit in Kyiv, Ukraine, producing a full range of cups for hot and cold drinks. Production is expected to start in 2018 and create about 50 jobs.

Visy Industries, the private cardboard box and paper recycling group of Anthony Pratt, will raise $150 million in 10-year long-term debt from AustralianSuper and IFM Investors, arranged by Westpac's Institutional Bank. The funds will refinance existing senior debt.

BillerudKorsnäs will invest SEK 5.7bn (about £516m) in a new board machine at its Gruvön site in Sweden, with a capacity of 550,000 tonnes a year, plus rebuilds at the existing pulp mill. It is the company's largest investment ever.

Leicester-based CPS Flexible and Kirkby in Ashfield-based Mercury Packaging merged under a holding company, Quicksilver, creating a £16m flexible packaging group that will keep both brands. The deal was reported on 5 March 2017.

Austrian packaging printer Bauernfeind Print + Display became the first commercial user of Durst's Delta WT 250 water-based digital printing system, which it bought to print corrugated display packaging. The company expects to grow its turnover by 25% a year.

Massman Automation Designs appointed Greg Gorski as Vice President and General Manager of EDL Massman in Green Bay, Wisconsin, to succeed founder Ken Carter upon his planned retirement.

Packaging machinery distributor KernPack signed an exclusive UK and Ireland distribution deal with palletising systems firm Skilled Group.

Mercury Packaging and CPS Flexible merged to form a new flexible packaging company with a combined turnover of around £16m.