Nazareth, Belgium-based St-Luc Labels & Packaging has announced it has acquired Altrif Label, based in Roosendaal, the Netherlands. Altrif is one of the few printing companies in Europe that produces multilayer labels. For St-Luc, a family-owned business specialising in self-adhesive labels, folding cardboard, shrink sleeves and – as of recently – flexible foil packaging, the takeover is a milestone: the company will double in size to achieve an annual turnover of around 40 million euros. It is currently one of the three leading packaging printers in the Benelux area.

Altrif Label is a family-owned business that was founded in 1983 by Free Doomen. The company specialized in custom-made complex and multilayer labels. With 90 employees and an annual turnover of 18 million euros, it is one of the larger Dutch players in its niche. As there was no possibility of passing ownership on within the family, the owner went in search of a suitable candidate to take Altrif over. He found the perfect party in St-Luc Labels & Packaging, a fellow sector member that is also family-owned.

Free Doomen concludes, “The DNA of St-Luc Labels & Packaging corresponds perfectly with Altrif Label in terms of corporate identity. Both companies are characterized by their family-oriented approach to entrepreneurship, which is something that I have always aimed to convey to our customers and instil in our employees. Additionally, the expansion of the product portfolio will ensure a broader range of services. Taking all of these aspects into consideration, I am convinced that this partnership is destined for a bright future.”

“Everyone knows that these are difficult times for the graphics industry. However, we have been able to consolidate our growth over the past few years by continually striving for innovation and quality,” says CEO of St-Luc, Jerome Dhondt. “When the prospect of taking over Altrif came into view, there was no reason to hold back. All things considered, it is a highly complementary company: we can consolidate our technologies, specialisations and customer portfolios and, in so doing, strengthen each other’s position.”

Although Altrif is a company in the same sector, it has a different focus than St-Luc. “While many of our customers are in the food and cosmetics industries, Altrif focuses more strongly on the petrochemical industry. With their booklets and multipage labels they have specific areas of expertise that we do not yet have. And we, in turn, can add our cardboard packaging and shrink sleeves to the range of products offered by Altrif,” adds managing director Niko Dhondt.

The plant in Roosendaal will continue to exist, the staff will remain on board and the name Altrif will be maintained.