East Mids packaging firms merge to create £16m company

Two East Midlands packaging firms have merged in a deal that will form a £16m company.

CPS Flexible of Leicester and Mercury Packaging of Kirkby in Ashfield will be come together under a holding company known as Quicksilver but will retain their brands.

The new firm says it will target the food, publishing, retail and security markets.

Tony Stanger, new group chairman, said: “This transaction brings together two highly complementary and long-established organisations to create a new, more powerful flexible packaging company designed to further enhance our expertise and capabilities.

“The individual businesses have been very successful and achieved sustainable levels of profit but capacity was starting to become an issue and a potential obstacle to future growth,” adds Tony. “It became evident very quickly that there were several areas for synergy between the companies.

“Despite both operating within the food and publishing markets, there are very few common customers and significant areas where Mercury Packaging could benefit from CPS Flexible’s extrusion capabilities. Likewise, the former’s lamination equipment will be an advantage for CPS Flexible.”

Mercury Packaging’s chairman, Tony Stanger, will take on the role for the Group, and CPS Flexible’s current production director, Simon Rose, will become group managing director.

Other key Group roles include Ray Franks as sales director, David Mallison as finance director and John Fisher as production manager.

Rose said: “This is an extremely positive move for our businesses with customers benefitting from the two companies’ combined 65 years’ experience in the flexible packaging industry. Plus both organisations have a strong sense of shared vision and values, highlighting a natural synergy in terms of what we do and how we do it.”

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