Saxon Packaging, an independent converter of board into corrugated boxes and fitments, was established in 1986.

The firm had 53 staff and a turnover of £5.5m as of August 2015, the month it brought large-format litho lamination in-house after purchasing a Lamina Blackline 1620.

This had formed part of a wider £1.5m investment programme that also saw the business extend its factory and add a biomass heating system.

Saxon Packaging was unavailable for comment at the time of writing and it’s unclear whether there will be any changes to the firm’s management structure or operations.

In a statement, Smurfit Kappa chief executive Clive Bowers said: “I am delighted with this acquisition which will integrate another strong professional management team into the Smurfit Kappa organisation.

“The culture of this company is very much aligned with the Smurfit Kappa philosophy, having built excellent businesses in selected customer and product sectors which will add to our existing strengths.

“These acquisitions support our continued drive to ‘open the future’ within the UK packaging market, further developing our customer offer, brand and reputation in a way that truly sets us apart.”

Smurfit Kappa UK is a subsidiary of the global paper-based packaging giant Smurfit Kappa Group, which employs more than 45,000 staff across around 370 production sites in 34 countries worldwide, with a combined revenue of €8.1bn in 2015.

The group announced its Q3 results earlier this week, posting revenue of just over €2bn, up 1% on Q3 2015. Its sales for the nine-month period ending 30 September 2016 were €6.1bn, up 1% year-on-year on the equivalent period in 2015.

The company’s Q3 pre-tax profit was €187m, up 13% on Q3 2015, while its pre-tax profit for the first nine months of 2016 was €499m, up 22% on the same stage in 2015.