The deal was completed on 29 December 2023, and followed an industrial agreement a year ago.

The Quzhou-based paper mill, located in Zhejiang province, specialises in the production of translucent papers, sold under the Gateway and Sylvicta brands, for applications ranging from industrial design and graphics to food, consumer electronics, and luxury packaging.

“With its first paper mill in China, Fedrigoni can now strengthen its geographic presence in the Asian market, where it already has an extensive distribution network in China, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Bangladesh, including 11 warehouses, a self-adhesive materials manufacturing plant in Hefei, and an RFID inlays and tags manufacturing plant in Guangzhou,” said Marco Nespolo, CEO of the Fedrigoni Group.

“The deal will also enable the group to further expand its product portfolio in the translucent paper segment, which has the potential to increasingly replace plastic in packaging as a fully recyclable monomaterial.”

The manufacturing plant in Quzhou employs 130 people and produces about 7,000 tons of translucent papers annually.

Fedrigoni said product innovation related to the transition from plastic to paper is a major area of investment in its research development and innovation roadmap and a key pillar of its ESG strategy to 2030.

With Arjowiggins China, the number of M&A transactions completed by Fedrigoni in the last four years has risen to 14. Last week, the group revealed an initial investment to obtain a minority stake in London-based specialist design agency SharpEnd / io.tt.