The London-headquartered packaging giant said the net cash proceeds of around £400m, after taxation, transaction adjustments and expenses, will be used to reduce financial gearing in line with its medium-term target of net debt/EBITDA at or below 2.0x.

DS Smith group chief executive Miles Roberts said: “We are delighted to have completed the sale of our plastics division. The transaction is attractive, both financially and strategically, for DS Smith as we reinforce our position as a leader in sustainable fibre-based packaging.

“I would like to thank our plastics colleagues for all their hard work and wish them all the best with Olympus and Liqui-Box.”

DS Smith had first revealed its intentions to sell the plastics division in December 2018, following an initial review of its plastics business initiated earlier that year.

Last week DS Smith revealed that its chief financial officer Adrian Marsh is set to leave the group to take on the same role at bookmaker William Hill.