Zaragoza, Spain 12 March 2014 -- Saica takes its first step into the Turkish market. The company announced the acquisition of corrugated board manufacturer OMK.

Saica has announced its intention to acquire Turkish company OMK. OMK is based in Eskisehir in the north-west of Turkey and produces corrugated board. The company employs 260 people and has annual sales of approximately €20m. The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed nor was the expected date for its completion.

"This is an important acquisition for Saica as it not only gives us a strong position in a rapidly developing market but also enables us to better serve our key customers throughout their European operations," said Ramón Alejandro, Saica's President, summing up the company's motivation behind the move.

Saica sees strong growth potential for the corrugated board market in Turkey, saying it might become one of the largest in Europe. The country's GDP was expected to increase by 4.5% between 2014 and 2020, the company said, adding that a growing consumer market would create demand for packaging products.

Over the long term, Saica said it intended to cover the whole production chain in Turkey from recovering paper for recycling to containerboard manufacturing and processing into corrugated board.

Saica is currently active on markets in Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, Ireland and the UK where it employs a total of 8,000 people. The group's overall production capacities amount to 2.5 million t of recycled containerboard and 2.5 billion m² of corrugated packaging. In addition, it recovers around 3 million t of paper for recycling through its Saica Natur division.

This transaction is Saica's second officially announced acquisition in 2014. The group reported in February that it would take over Microlan, a Spanish manufacturer of containerboard and corrugated packaging which has 120 employees and annual sales of around €25.8m.