Storsack acquires Dorton Packaging

Leeds, January 2005 – The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has funded the acquisition of Dorton Packaging Ltd by Bradford-based Storsack UK Ltd.

Dorton Packaging was founded in 1975 as a paper sack trading company working with agriculture, chemicals and mail order companies. Based in Thirsk, today the company specialises in the manufacturing of Flexible Intermediate Bulk Containers  (FIBC) and produces up to 150,000 industrial strength bags per week. These are used for storing and transporting large volumes of free-flowing material from liquids to most forms of solids. In 1996 Dorton Packaging became the first UK company to be awarded the British Standards Institute Kitemark and since then has continued to grow.

Simon Wildi, Managing Director of Bradford-based Storsack UK Ltd recognised the success enjoyed by Dorton Packaging and explained: “The acquisition of Dorton Packaging Ltd demonstrates our commitment to developing the UK manufacturing side of the business and brings together 100 employees across two sites in Bradford and Thirsk.”

The acquisition will also create further employment opportunities in the future as the business continues to develop. The combined business has achieved a turnover of £25million, making Storsack UK Ltd the largest UK supplier of FIBC’s to a wide variety of companies in the construction, industrial and agricultural sectors of the market.

Oliver Böhme, Financial Controller of the Storsack Group headquartered in Viernheim, Germany said: “We engaged three banks to put together a financial package which would enable us to complete the acquisition before Christmas. The Royal Bank of Scotland was the first bank to return with a firm offer which indicated a clear understanding and commitment to our business.”

Jason Heywood, Director Corporate Development for The Royal Bank of Scotland Yorkshire Corporate Banking team worked on the deal along with Andy Barraclough, Relationship Director for the bank. Jason said: “The business proposition demonstrated a perfect fit and within a day we had put a firm offer on the table. We are looking forward to working on future acquisitions with Storsack UK Ltd and assisting their expansion in the UK manufacturing market.”                                                                      

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Notes to Editor:

·         The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is a broadly based financial services group with operations spanning banking, corporate banking, financial services, investment management and insurance, both in the UK and overseas.

·         Corporate Banking is part of Corporate Banking and Financial Markets (CBFM), which is the corporate banking, treasury and capital markets business of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group.