Bedford-based contract packer Central Pharma has acquired Adpack Europe, of Towcester, for an undisclosed sum.
The entire Adpack team, including former owners Ivan and Elaine Tutin, will join Central, taking headcount to more than 100.
Central Pharma was formed in March 2006, when a consortium led by former Nampak divisional director Graham Clark completed a buyout of Nampak's M.Y. Healthcare contract packing division.
At the time, Clark alluded to an investment fund of some £3m that was spent on a new 40,000ft2 facility opened in December 2006 and which gained MHRA (Medicines & Healthcare Regulatory Authority) and BRC (British Retail Consortium) approval in February this year.
The site has 20 independent suites and, with the integration of the production and packaging equipment acquired as part of the Adpack deal, it boasts a capacity of some 100 million blisters and 80 million pots per annum. Liquid filling, anaesthetic filling, strip packing, cartoning and flow wrapping facilities are also available on-site.
'There are real synergies between the Central and Adpack businesses,' said Clark. 'We operate with similar and complementary technologies and our client profiles are well-matched, with a mix of pharmaceutical clients in the ethical and generic fields, as well as leading high street multiples and healthcare retailers.'
'The UK contract packing sector is now recognised as an indispensable element of the pharmaceutical packaging industry; however, this recognition has been hard won and the successful players will remain so only by staying on a par, if not ahead of their clients in terms of compliance and standards.'