DS Smith to buy US-based corrugated packaging company

DS said the acquisition of the family-owned business - which employs around 190 people across its four operations in North Carolina and two sites in Virginia - will "significantly" boost its box-making capacity and complement its existing footprint in North America.

CCC's capabilities include a "strong" focus on high-quality, sustainable retail ready and display packaging, an area where DS Smith said it is achieving strong growth in Europe.

Chief executive Miles Roberts said: "This is an exciting and fast-paced environment where we are experiencing strong momentum, following the successful integration of Interstate. The customer response has been excellent and increased demand from local and global customers for sustainable, innovative packaging gives us the opportunity to keep building capacity.

"CCC's strong reputation and quality machinery assets will help us to accelerate growth in the region, offering world class products to many more customers."

Following completion of the acquisition, DS Smith's total operations in North America will comprise 23 facilities employing 2,000 people.

At 1450 BST, the shares were up 1% to 562.60p.