Inapa filed for insolvency this summer after its German subsidiary also filed for insolvency following a cashflow problem.

Bruno da Costa Pereira was subsequently appointed as the administrator of the Inapa IPG insolvency proceedings.

The report from the administrator published last week stated: “Under the terms of this report, creditors are informed that, in view of the intrinsic link between Inapa IPG’s equity situation and the shareholder valuation of the group’s companies and taking into account its exposure to rapid deterioration […], a competitive process has been initiated with potential investors in Inapa IPG and its assets.”

The administrator said that, as part of this process, four proposals were received from different entities, with particular focus on the assets located in Portugal and France – with the exception of one proposal received, conditional on a capitalisation by the current shareholders of an amount of €50m (£41.6m).

The report added: “No proposal was received for all of Inapa IPG’s assets; no proposal was received regarding the group’s companies located in Germany, Spain, Belgium or Turkey.

“At least two proposals were submitted for the acquisition of Inapa France SAS and Inapa Packaging Lda, as well as expressions of interest, which have not been formalised, for the potential acquisition of Inapa Portugal, Distribuição de Papel, S.A.”

Various investors have also expressed an interest that the business of Inapa Shared Centre, Lda. is maintained.

The administrator said Next Pack SAS has submitted a binding offer for the acquisition of 100% of the share capital of Inapa Packaging SAS – and its subsidiaries SEMAQ - Societé D’Emballage et de Manutention D'Aquitaine and Embaltec SAS – for a fixed price of €20m, subject to approval or waiver of the suspensive effect by the French Competition Authority.

Inapa Packaging SAS is currently held by Inapa IGP subsidiary Europackaging Investimentos, Participações e Gestão, Lda.

The creditors’ meeting to evaluate the insolvency administrator’s report and proposals is scheduled for Friday (27 September).

Inapa, which was founded in 1965, previously had a UK-based subsidiary, Tavistock Paper, but this was sold to paper merchant Gerald Judd in 2011.

The partially Portuguese state-owned company reported sales of €968.7m in 2023, down 20% year-on-year, and posted net losses of €8m, after making net profits of €17.8m in 2022.