The Sofidel Group, a major paper manufacturer for sanitary and household use, announced on Nov. 5. 5 that it has made three investments across the U.S.
The Italian multinational, with its subsidiary Sofidel America, has acquired a converting plant in Green Bay with its corresponding business and also acquired a new state-of-the-art converting building in Mississippi from the Green Bay Converting Inc. company. Additionally the company has launched a new greenfield investment in Ohio, and opened a new head office in Philadelphia.
“The U.S. market is a key market for our group, because it is the first in the world in terms of per capita consumption in the tissue sector,” explained Luigi Lazzareschi, CEO of Sofidel Group. Sofidel is the second ranking group in Europe in terms of production capacity in the tissue sector (1,050,000 tons per year).
From the Green Bay Converting, which employs 300, the company will acquire a 800,000 sq. ft. converting plant in Green Bay. Sofidel already has a presence with its own converting plant in the area.
As part of this acquisition the company will now own a new 400,000 sq. ft. new industrial building in Hattiesburg, Miss. which will house a new converting plant.
These properties will add annual production capacity amounting to approximately 65,000 tons, to which in the next few months several production lines will be added at the Hattiesburg location, and a few production lines at the Green Bay location.
Circleville, Ohio (near Columbus) will be the site of the company’s greenfield site. The company said the selected area provides access to offers important cities located within a few hundred miles and is a well-established logistics hub for distribution operators.
Additionally, Sofidel has recently set up a new office in Philadelphia which will serve as the new headquarters of Sofidel America.
The activities announced combine with the recent opening of a new production plant in Tulsa producing AFH and consumer Private Label products.
As a whole Sofidel is committed to investing more than $300 million over three years (2015 – 2016 – 2017) in the U.S.
The company first started operating in the U.S. in 2012, as a result of acquiring Cellynne tissue company, and today is active in 7 states; Nevada (Henderson), Oklahoma (Tulsa), Wisconsin (Green Bay), Mississippi (Hattiesburg), Ohio (Circleville), Florida (Haines City), and Pennsylvania (Philadelphia).
The company, which is a privately held by the Stefani and Lazzareschi families, has subsidiaries in 13 countries – Italy, Spain, Sweden, the UK, Belgium, France, Croatia, Germany, Poland, Romania, Greece, Turkey and the U.S – with more than 5,200 employees.
