Antalis cements French presence

European paper merchant Antalis has again strengthened its position in the French packaging market after acquiring Paxor, an industrial packaging distributor.

Paxor, which has 700 products and employs around 100 people, recorded a turnover of £19m (€28m) in 2006.

It has five commercial branches, three distribution centres and 10,000 sqm of storage.

Hervé Poncin, Antalis Western Europe managing director, said: “In France, Paxor allows Antalis to enlarge its product offering and to further improve its geographical coverage.”

Earlier this year, Antalis signed a deal to buy French PaperlinX subsidiary Axe­lium, and to sell its Italian operation to PaperlinX.