South Africa's Nampak buys Nigerian packaging plants for $301 mln

South Africa's Nampak Ltd agreed on Monday to pay $301 million to buy a Nigerian beverage can manufacturer plus an option to purchase a plastic packaging facility.
The acquisition of Alucan Investment Ltd forms part of the packaging firm's stated intention to boost sales from outside its home market.
Nampak has said it aims to grow its sales contribution from the rest of Africa to 35 percent from about 20 percent now.
Under the deal, Nampak has a 10-year option to buy related company involved in rigid plastic packaging in Nigeria, if and when the owner decides to sell.  
The company also said it was considering the expansion of its Angolan can manufacturing facility to meet growing demand in the oil-rich southern African country.
Alucan Investments Ltd makes cans for the beer, malt and the soft drink industry with capacity to make 1.1 billion cans per year.
Shares in Nampak rose 3.5 percent to 31.83 rand by 0805 GMT, outpacing a 0.4 percent rise in the JSE All-share index