Jobs were saved in Birmingham and around the world when Abdul Majid Alimohamed’s family took the Yardley-based Europackaging business back into their ownership – just three years after selling it to a private equity house.
The deal was secured in a pre-pack administration deal which secured more than 800 jobs worldwide.
The takeover resulted in Europackaging Jersey Guarantee, owned by the Majid family, taking Europackaging Ltd and Border Converters Ltd back under their wing.
The 2006 sale of Abdul Majid Alimohamed’s Europackaging to New York and London-based private equity firm MidOcean Partners is thought to have netted him and his family around £100 million. Not bad for a man who arrived here from Malawi in 1974 and began a business as a paper bag merchant.
Europackaging is now a £200 million business selling 10,000 different kinds of packaging around the world.
Abdul Majid, aged 70, and his sons Shabir and Afzal, retained a minority stake in the business, which has been involved in considerable expansion of late.
This expansion included investment in its facility in New Hampshire, USA and sales offices in India and France. The company also has interests in Malaysia, Turkey, Spain and Dubai.
Europackaging now makes and distributes a wide range of packaging products worldwide.
Among other products, it provides billions of carrier bags a year to UK supermarkets and major stores including Tesco, Sainsbury, ASDA, Carrefour, Somerfield, Greggs and Ikea.
In 2005 the company invested in a state-of-the-art four storey head office building and three hall distribution centre in Birmingham.
Europackaging also has a dedicated research and development facility at its Birmingham HQ.
This R&D unit has developed a range of innovative and environmental products including woven long life bags and sustainable carrier bags.
