Regent's Place, London, England 10 July 2014 -- DS Smith is to become full owner of the Italian recycling company Italmaceri, currently a joint venture between DS Smith and Burgo. The competition authority has given green light for the deal.

DS Smith plans to acquire the remaining 50% stake in recycling company Italmaceri headquartered in Turin, Italy. Italmaceri is currently operated as a joint venture between DS Smith and Burgo. Italy's competition authority AGCM reported it had evaluated and approved the deal. The transaction price was not disclosed.

As early as the beginning of 2012, Burgo announced its intention to sell its participation in Italmaceri saying it would like to gradually part with activities outside its core business. It intended to concentrate on the graphic paper, pulp and energy segments, the company added. With the closure of its Mantua newsprint mill in February 2013, Burgo's recovered paper needs have significantly declined.

Italmaceri is the recycling arm of DS Smith and Burgo in Italy. The company collects and sorts recovered paper and other wastes and produces around 500,000 t of recovered paper per year for the paper industry. The company's sales amounted to around €63.4m in 2013.