Sapal, based in Ecublens, Switzerland, manufactures diefold packaging for cheese under the Kustner brand as well as soup cubes and chocolate.
Good opportunity
Jakob Bleiker, head of business unit Food, Bosch Packaging Technology, said this was a good opportunity for Sapal as a stand-alone company.
“Sapal can flexibly operate the business in this volatile niche market and continue to develop profitably in the long-term,” he said.
“Since there is hardly any synergy potential with other Bosch Packaging Technology divisions, we decided to sell Sapal to the Navigator Group."
Sapal, which has approximately 80 employees, was founded by Jean-Jacques Köhler in 1906 and became part of Bosch’s packaging division through the takeover of SIG Group by Bosch in 2004.
The Navigator Group was ‘particularly impressed by the numerous certifications, a traditional focus on education and training, the product and customer quality, the excellent machinery and the highly motivated and qualified employees’ of Sapal.
Further development
Dietmar Gundel, partner, Navigator Group, said Sapal’s management, which is highly experienced and well-regarded by customers and workforce alike, will stay on board and ‘form an excellent basis for further development of the company’.
"I am convinced that with the Navigator Group, we have found a suitable new owner with whom we can successfully drive the business of Sapal," said Claudio Manfroni, former and future CEO, Sapal.
Sapal is Navigator Group’s third investment. The Group’s six partners are based in Munich, Düsseldorf, Zurich, London and Paris.