The acquisition will allow Refresco to further expand its presence in the North American region

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Image: Refresco agreed to acquire AZPACK to expand its operations in US. Photo: courtesy of rawpixel from Pixabay.

Dutch bottling company Refresco has agreed to acquire Arizona Production & Packaging’s (AZPACK) manufacturing operations in Tempe, Arizona for an undisclosed sum.

AZPACK provides bottling and canning services, produces packaging for sports and energy drink products.

In 2009, the company expanded operations to a new 240,000ft² bottling facility to better serve its customers. AZPACK claims that it can package over 100 million bottles per annum and can co-pack speciality-sized polyethylene terephthalate and high-density polyethylene.

In July 2014, AZPACK has commissioned second can filler that allows that company to produce 1,200 cans per minute.

Commenting on the acquisition, Refresco Group CEO Hans Roelofs said: “North America is a large and very diverse market with a lot of growth potential in different drinks categories.

“Our current footprint consists of 27 locations in North America, serving national and international branded beverage companies and retailers.

“With the addition of AZPACK to the Refresco Group, we will be even better positioned to service customers in the Southwestern USA across many categories, including energy drinks and innovative sports drinks.

“AZPACK will have a specialist role in the Refresco Group, as they are known for their expertise in manufacturing complex niche products for branded beverage companies.”

The acquisition will allow Refresco to further expand its presence in the North American region.

AZPACK co-founder Adds Peter Reilly said: “We have grown our company significantly over the past decade, but recognize the need for a different and larger platform in order to continue to grow and thrive.

“Both Dr. Wang and I will stay on as managers to support this next growth phase. Refresco is a very experienced beverage solutions provider and they value entrepreneurship and flexibility as much as we do. Our can-do mentality perfectly matches their approach to serving customers.”

Other acquisitions of Refresco

Earlier this month, Refresco entered into negotiations with the UK-based soft drinks producer Britvic to acquire the latter’s three juice bottling facilities in France.

In 2018, Refresco acquired Cott’s bottling activities in North America, the UK, and Mexico for $1.25bn.