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SIG has agreed to acquire Pactiv Evergreen's Asia Pacific fresh operations (Evergreen Asia) for an enterprise value of $335 million. Evergreen Asia supplies filling machines, cartons, closures and after-sales service to its customers in the fresh segment, mainly within the milk category, and has production facilities in mainland China, South Korea and Taiwan. The company is starting to develop in other Southeast Asian markets, where SIG is already well-established in the aseptic segment. The acquisition will enable SIG to strengthen its position with existing customers and to expand into a new customer base. SIG also plans to use its local R&D presence and innovation capabilities, as well as its marketing expertise, to produce more innovative packaging formats in the fresh dairy market. Lidong Fan, president and general manager in Asia Pacific North, said: "In China, milk is increasingly seen as an important source of protein and as good for health, representing an attractive growth opportunity for fresh as well as aseptic milk. The Evergreen Asia business adds fresh milk cartons to our strong liquid dairy portfolio which, until now, has been mainly focused on single-serve packs and on-the-go consumption. As fresh milk is mainly consumed at home, this acquisition broadens our range with an increase in family-sized packs." As part of the transaction, SIG will be entering into a new coated carton board purchase agreement with Pactiv Evergreen.