Sonoco Products Company will acquire Weidenhammer Packaging Group of Germany for EUR 286 million (USD 383 million) in a deal the US packager said would create a global leader in rigid paper packaging.

Weidenhammer, a family-owned company founded in 1955 with about a dozen production sites in Europe and South America, makes cans and drums for clients including British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco, the company said.
Sonoco, based in Hartsville, South Carolina, said Weidenhammer and its USD 327 million in annual sales would increase packaging and services revenue to about USD 2.8 billion, representing more than half of Sonoco's USD 5.3 billion in annual sales. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, Sonoco said.