It says that 14 of Europe’s Top 50 plastics packaging companies are now owned by private equity companies, compared with just one of these companies in 2002.

AMI’s survey paints a picture of the plastics packaging sector that is being shaped by merger and acquisition activity. Amcor is now the largest plastics packaging company in Europe with estimated annual plastics packaging sales of ?2.07bn in the region. Amcor replaced Austrian company Alpla-Werke in the top position after it integrated Schmalbach Lubeca’s PET business into its operations.

AMI estimates that the 50 groups in the 2007 survey had sales of more than ?21bn in 2006 and used approximately 7.7 million tonnes of polymer materials at over 650 plants. These companies represent approximately 40% of the total plastics packaging business in Europe.

When the last edition of AMI’s report was published in 2002, the top 50 companies identified accounted for just 30% of the business. “The top players… are therefore becoming more and more powerful,” said AMI.

Among the many transactions noted in the AMI survey are deals signed in the past year at Autobar, Klöckner Pentaplast and Mauser, in which each of these companies were sold by one private equity company to another.

AMI said that nearly all the major companies covered in its survey have seen some significant change in structure or ownership in recent years.

It said: “These groups can often only survive in the competitive packaging business by focusing on niche segments and by expanding internationally, not just within a European context, but also globally. They are looking to achieve this through a process of either divestment or merger and acquisition.”