Constantia eyes 4-fold jump in Indian biz

Austrian company which is into pharmaceutical packaging and counts Dr Reddy’s Laboratories as a major client is also looking to acquire Indian companies including those in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Austria-based Constantia Flexibles International, a leading global player in pharmaceutical and other packaging segments, is looking to increase its Indian business by four times from the current 25 million Euro (nearly Rs 192 crore) to 100 million Euro (about Rs 769 crore) in near term. The company, whose Indian clients include the likes of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories and Aurobindo Pharma, is also scouting for new acquisitions in the country including those in the cities like Hyderabad, to accelerate its growth.

“At present, we are supplying packaging material for premium pharmaceutical products to our Indian clients from Europe. We target high value segments of packaging in the country because we may not be able to compete with local players in the mass market segments initially. We have many clients in India now, including pharma majors such as Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Cipla and Aurobindo Pharma. We will soon start supplying to GSK,” Dr Pierre-Henri Bruchon, Senior Vice President-Pharma, Constantia Flexibles International GmbH, told The Hans India. Two years ago, the packaging major has acquired Gujarat-based Parikh Packaging in which it holds 60 per cent stake. This plant caters mainly to the packaging needs of home and personal care as well as food processing segments.

“But we are looking to acquire another plant so that we can make packaging material for pharma products here and our business in the country can grow from the current 25 million Euro to 100 million Euro. We are exploring all the cities for the acquisition, but I can’t tell you as of now whether our targeted company will be located in Hyderabad or any other city,” he said He further explained that it would be difficult to get an exclusive plant here that could only manufacture pharmaceutical packaging products. “So, the plant we are going to acquire will be able to make packaging products for all sectors including pharma. Initially, we will pick up majority stake and then develop it from there,” he added.

Constantia Flexibles, a multinational company, has manufacturing presence across 18 countries and its total turnover reached 1.7 billion Euro (Rs 13,000 cr) in 2013. It enjoys a global client base of 3,000 and has 42 plants at various locations.