British group DS Smith announced it has completed the acquisition of Romanian paper and cardboard factories EcoPack and EcoPaper, a deal worth €208mn.

The two companies controlled by local investor Vladimir Cohn are the leaders of the local paper and packaging industries, ahead of other important players Ambro Suceava, Vrancart Adjud, VPK Packaging, Rondocarton and Dunapack.

The company's group chief executive Miles Roberts commented that with the deal, DS Smith is strengthening its operations in an important growth market. "We continue to grow strongly throughout Eastern Europe and this acquisition will help us meet the increasing demand in the region," he added. 

DS Smith already has a production unit in Romania at Timisoara that reported €27mn revenues last year. Its Romanian business has seen strong growth over many years and is well positioned in the local FMCG market. EcoPack and EcoPaper’s customer base and product offer align well with DS Smith plc, providing strong potential for further growth and significant cost synergies, DS Smith said in a press release.

The leading provider of corrugated packaging in Europe, DS Smith reached an agreement to take over the two paper and packaging companies in Romania from Cohn last October, profit.ro reported. 

The price includes the debt of the two Romanian companies (of unspecified value) and the buyer can finance the deal from its own resources. The price reportedly also includes €35mn DS Smith equity received by Cohn as part of the deal.