The new addition will operate as part of Essentra's packaging and securing solutions division. Dakota is a supplier of cartons to the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors. For the year ended September 2013, Dakota generated revenue of €15.2m.
The deal comes six months after the Contego Healthcare pharmaceutical cartons business was bought for £160m by Essentra under its previous name, Filtrona.
"The acquisition of Dakota underscores our ambition to be the premier provider of creative and secure packaging solutions to our customers and end-markets of choice," said managing director of Essentra's packaging and securing solutions division, Alison Evans.
"Our plans represent a significant investment in our capabilities in Ireland and will ensure we have the best operational footprint and necessary space to meet the growing needs of the healthcare and consumer packaging industries we serve, under our new Essentra Packaging identity."
Today's deal is part of a wider restructuring of Essentra's Irish footprint; the company yesterday (7 November) began a 30-day consultation over the potential closure of its Waterford site, around 160km south of Dublin, with the potential loss of up to 50 jobs.
Essentra said that the Dakota Dublin facility would merge with Waterford but? this would result in the closure of the Waterford facility.
An official from the union Unite, Brendon Byrne, has blasted the move as "industrial vandalism".
Essentra admitted in a statement that the annoucement would cause? "a great deal of uncertainty for? Waterford employees" but added that it "intends to work as positively and supportively as it can to progress matters through the consultation process".
Evans said: "The acquisition of Dakota underscores our ambition to be the premier provider of creative and secure packaging solutions to our customers and end-markets of choice."
"Our plans represent a significant investment in our capabilities in Ireland and will ensure we have the best operational footprint and necessary space to meet the growing needs of the healthcare and consumer packaging industries we serve, under our new Essentra Packaging identity.
"It is therefore with regret that we are entering a consultation regarding the possible closure of the Waterford site.? It is in no way a reflection on the quality or commitment of our employees, but a consequence of the need to ensure we act in the best interests of our customers and other stakeholders."
Unite official Brendan Byrne said that the proposal to close the Waterford site said: "Unite is convinced that a programme of targeted investment in the plant could transform the Waterford operation into a trail blazer in the packaging sector, and we will be putting forward argument in this regard during the consultation period.
"Closure of the Waterford Essentra plant would be nothing less than an act of industrial vandalism."
