Guala Closures intends to enter the market for pharmaceutical closures with the acquisition of Austrian company KWK Kunststoffwerk Kremsmünster.
KWK, founded in 1950 and based in Kremsmünster (Austria), produces plastic caps, closures and precise dosing solutions for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications. The company supplies international pharmaceutical groups and generated sales of around € 18 million in the twelve months to June 2025. Following completion of the transaction, owner Manfred Habermann will remain responsible for the pharmaceutical division and will report to Guala CEO Andrea Lodetti, according to the statement.
„This acquisition fits perfectly with our strategic vision to expand into high-value and resilient sectors,“ said Andrea Lodetti. „KWK's strong market position in pharmaceutical closures, combined with our expertise in first-opening and anti-counterfeiting systems, creates significant synergies to ensure the safe delivery of medicines to the end patient.“ Habermann also sees advantages: The merger offers „the opportunity to accelerate growth and innovation and to expand our geographical presence close to our customers“.
Classification and outlook
With this step, Guala Closures is expanding its portfolio beyond its core business with speciality closures for beverages. The pharmaceutical closures sector is considered to be cyclically robust and, according to the company, is growing in the long term, driven by demographics and regulation. The plan is to bundle offers for secure, tamper-evident and child-resistant closures in plastic and aluminium and to use global production and development capacities. Completion is subject to the usual approvals and is expected by the first quarter of 2026.
Background to Guala Closures
Guala Closures is present in over 100 countries with 37 production sites. In 2024, the Group generated sales of more than €830 million and employed over 5,000 people; seven development and innovation centres and more than 200 patents underline its R&D focus.
Source: Guala Closures
