Cinven has helped Klöckner Pentaplast, the German plastic packaging giant, to acquire Neoplástica, a Portuguese and Spanish packaging company, in a rare instance of pan-European corporate consolidation.

Oliver Frey, an investment director at Cinven, the European buy-out firm, said Neoplástica was acquired as part of Cinven's buy-and-build plan for Klöckner Pentaplast. The German company already has a strong presence in northern and mid-Europe, but the new acquisition is its first stab at southern Europe.