US-Polish group Can Pack, owner of the Tecuci-based metallic packaging plant, will invest almost 30 million euros in Bucharest, developing a new production line for metal containers, such as cans for beer or soft drinks.
It will be the most important investment of this type in south-eastern Europe. Production will be largely exported in the region.
The group has already bought the land, with consulting being provided by the Stoica & Asociatii law firm.
The investment plan was announced after a settlement was reached in the trial initiated against the Romanian State, through the Hague Permanent Court of Arbitration, by Can Pack through its Romanian branch, Pol Am Pack, the majority shareholder in Amep Tecuci.
The issue at stake was Pol Am Pack's voting rights within Amep, though the former owned the majority stake in the latter company.
Minority shareholders maintained that since the Polish investor had not transferred all the shares it had subscribed to through a capital increase, its voting right was suspended for the overall stock that it owned. Romania's general prosecutor launched an appeal against the interpretation of the law on commercial companies, with regard to the position of minority shareholders. Pol Am Pack was counselled during the trial by Stoica & Asociatii.
After the takeover of operations, Pol Am Pack took over a company of no economic value and asked the Hague Permanent Court of Arbitration to force the Romanian State to repair the damage. This conflict was settled, and the investor was exempted from making the last investment it had engaged in through the privatisation contract, explained Razvan Dinca of Stoica & Asociatii. The majority shareholder of Pol Am Pack SA is the Polish company Can Pack SA, holding 99.99% of its stock, while Can Pack is controlled by the US F&P Holding.
Can Pack, through its Pol Am Pack subsidiary, estimates it will increase its turnover in Romania in real terms by 40% in comparison to 2003, according to Dragos Doru, chief of operations with Cap Pack of Romania.
The engine for growth is mostly expected to be the higher rate of consumption on the food products market, where the company's most important customers come from. Lately, the food industry has been seeing segmentation into product categories, with the focus being on the quality of the final product.
Premium brands have registered sustained growth, a sector reflected in the structure of the products made by Can Pack. alexandru.cerchez@zf.ro
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