Navigator Paper UK has launched an offer to acquire Accrol Group Holdings, a maker of tissue paper and wet wipes based in Blackburn, UK. Accrol’s board is recommending the offer, which is subject to regulatory approval.
 
For the year ended April 30, 2023, Accrol reported sales of £242 million and earnings of £15.6 milllion. In January, Accrol expanded into key household markets through the acquisition of Severn Delta Limited, a maker of wet wipes and tumble dryer sheets based in Somerset, U.K. with revenues reported at £5 million. Accrol initially entered the wet wipes in 2021 when it purchased John Dale, Ltd., a U.K.-based maker of flushable and biodegradable wipes. 
 
Navigator Paper UK is a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of The Navigator company, a large Portugese supplier of pulp, paper, tissue, packaging and biomass-based energy. It is ranked seventh world wide in the production of fine printing and writing paper as well as Europe’as largest supplier of eucalyptus pulp. In 2014, the company entered the tissue market and since then has made a number of acquisitions and greenfield investments, bringing its total production capacity of tissue paper to 165,000 tons and its converting capacity of tissue to 180,000 tons.
 
Navigator sees Accrol as a key pillar in its strategy of continued expansion into Western Europe’s tissue business due to its position as a key supplier in the U.K. private label market.
 
“Accrol has undergone a period of significant transformation and growth over the last four years, investing in fully automating its tissue converting operations to enhance manufacturing capabilities,” says Accrol CEI Gareth .”I am proud and grateful for the efforts and commitment of our people. We have grown to become a leading manufacturer of private label, own branded and licensed tissue products to the UK market and have developed broad retail relationships and a robust supply model that enables us to produce great quality and value products.”