Sonoco has agreed a deal to purchase the UK tube and converting businesses of Smurfit UK, part of the Jefferson Smurfit Group.

The Smurfit core and tube businesses, which last year had a turnover of 11m ($16m), consists of three converting facilities located at Slough, Leek and Jarrow, with 100 employees across the three sites.

"The purchase enhances our UK tube and converting operations and paper mill operations," said Sonoco president and chief executive Harris DeLoach.

He said the acquisition should also be seen as a continuation of the companys on-going strategy of making acquisitions within its existing business segments.

A spokesman for Jefferson Smurfit said the group took the decision to sell as the units were too small an entity within a market that had become too consolidated for them to be able to compete without serious investment. He said Sonoco were satisfied with the teams in place at the sites, with no redundancies being discussed so far.

Sonoco currently has four tube and core facilities in the UK, based at Coleford,

Milnrow, Lurgan in Northern Ireland and Brechin in Scotland, and also a paper mill at Stainland in West Yorkshire.

US-based Sonoco is a 1.8bn manufacturer of industrial and consumer products and provider of packaging services, employing about 17,500 staff with some 300 operations spread over 33 countries.

Story by Andy Scott