Belfast-based firm Delta Print sold for £80m

The Belfast firm manufactures packaging for major companies including McDonalds

Delta Print, the Belfast-based printing and packaging firm, has been sold in a £80m deal.

The buyer is Huhtamaki, a Finnish-based packaging company which already has a factory in Lurgan.

Delta Print was owned by the west Belfast man Terry Cross, who founded the business in 1981.

Its major customers include the McDonalds fast food chain. Mr Cross will act as an advisor to Huhtamaki.

He paid tribute to the "innovation, dedication and hard work" of his staff in Belfast and Poland saying they had helped "capture the attention" of a global company such as Huhtamaki.

Huhtamaki operates in 34 countries and in 2015 had sales of 2.7bn euro (£2.07bn).

The two companies already had a relationship, as both are major suppliers to McDonalds.

Rosemary Mason, managing director of Huhtamaki Foodservice Western Europe and UK, said the deal allowed the firm to expand its range of products.

Huhtamaki already employs more than 200 people at its moulded fibre plant in Lurgan and paper recycling unit in Lisburn.

Delta has round 260 staff in Belfast, with a further 65 at a factory in Poland.