packaging supplier rpc is to buy icelandic rival promens for £307m to boost its position in europe and add new processes to the ftse 250 group as it continues its acquisition spree.the british company, which makes plastic packaging for customers including nestle and dulux, said the acquisition would strengthen its position in markets where promens is already established, as well as creating costsaving synergies of &euro15m £12m a year.ftse 250 company rpc will fund the purchase with a £200m oneforthree rights issue at 320p and by increasing its credit facilities by £140m to £490m.promens employs 3,800 and has 40 plants, all but five of which are in europe and last year had revenues of &euro582m and earnings of &euro57m.combining the two companies is expected to cost &euro35m in the first two years and the acquisition is expected to boost earnings in first full year once the deal has completed.related articles  rpc shares look cheap02 may 2014demand for food packaging lifts rpc profits04 jun 2014buying promens is the latest in a series of deals by rpc over the past year, having agreed to buy hong kongbased ace in may for £255m, paying £103.5m for ukbased maynard & harris in december, and £7m for helioplast, based in bosnia and herzegovina, in january. pim vervaat, rpc chief executive, said &ldquothe combination of rpc and promens provides a unique opportunity to create an enhanced platform of scale across our core european end markets. the enlarged group will benefit from opportunities to extend its product and technology offering across the full breadth of its combined operations as well as to achieve cost efficiencies.&rdquo the deal was announced as rpc posted halfyear numbers which showed revenue rose by 12pc to £589m and pretax profit was up 16pc to £34.9m, with acquisitions helping drive the increases. the interim dividend was raised by 0.5p to 5p a share and will be paid on january 16. shares in rpc rose more than 4pc to 570p in early trading. 
