World News

New Zealand billionaire Graeme Hart is to increase his presence in the US packaging sector by purchasing Blue Ridge Paper Products.

Hart's Rank Group announced on Friday (15 June) that it would pay £171m ($338m) for the North Carolina-based carton manufacturer, helping it to make inroads into the country's lucrative fresh milk and juice market.

The move comes three months after Rank won the race to buy Swiss firm SIG, converting it into the world's second-largest drink carton manufacturer, behind Tetra Laval.

Blue Ridge is 45% owned by employees, with the rest belonging to buyout specialists KPS capital partners of New York.

In the past 18 months, Hart has spent £2.8bn buying firms in the packaging sector, in various locations around the world.