Cassina Packaging Group has disposed the 100% in the share capital of its subsidiary Fustiplast S.r.l., an Italian company specialized in the production of high-density plastic drums and containers for the industrial packaging industry, to a subsidiary of the US-based international company Greif Inc. (www.greif.com). Greif is listed on the NYSE (GEF, GEF.B) and is active in industrial packaging products manufacturing and service worldwide.

The internal developed technology in the production of the IBCs (Intermediate Bulk Container), being the most successful characteristic of Fustiplast, has represented the main strategic rationale of such an important acquisition by Greif. As a consequence, Greif, a global leader in industrial packaging products and services, will develop its IBC business segment worldwide taking advantage of the know-how and the experience improved by Fustiplast over the last years under the guidance of the two siblings Anna Loredana and Virginio Cassina. Mr. Cassina will lead the new business. The evolution from small family company to a top international player was made possible by the investments, skills and passion of the group’s management team.

In the transaction Cassina Packaging Group was advised by K Finance as the seller’s financial advisor (team: Giuseppe Renato Grasso, Andrea Scarsi, Andrea Dubini), by Studio Legale Arturo Botti as legal advisor and by Studio Tributario CBA as tax advisor. Greif was advised by Allen&Overy in Italy as legal and tax advisor and by Grant Thornton as accounting advisor.

Fustiplast (www.fustiplast.it), headquartered in Bottanuco (BG), was established in 1947. Since its beginning the company has been operated by the Cassina family who, over the recent years, led the company to achieve a significant increase in annual revenues, the geographical expansion in strategic foreign markets such as Europe and Brazil and the internal development of advanced patented technologies especially in the segment of the IBCs (Intermediate Bulk Container). IBCs are specific blow-molded plastic containers  with a capacity of 1,000 liters whose diffusion worldwide is constantly increasing. Fustiplast has two production facilities in Italy, in Bottanuco and in Castenedolo, and three abroad, two in Germany and one in Brazil. In the fiscal year 2010, Fustiplast together with its subsidiaries achieved total aggregated sales of approximately Euro 120 million.

Greif, an Ohio-based multinational company specialized in the production of steel, plastic, fiber, flexible and corrugated containers and in packaging services, reported $3,5 billion (around Euro 2,5 billion) in net sales for the fiscal year that ended October 31, 2010.