- Business
- Inapa - Investimentos, Participações e Gestão, S.A. (Inapa IPG) is a Portugal-based holding company primarily engaged in the distribution of paper, packaging, and visual communication products across Europe. The company operates through three main segments: Paper Supply, offering coated, offset, digital, and carbonless paper, cardboard, envelopes, graphic consumables such as paints and chemicals, and office supplies; Packaging, providing boxes, films, tapes, fillers, bags, labels, straps, equipment, and customized packaging solutions; and Visual Communication, supplying large-format digital printing products and services including printers, inks, toners, media, software, technical assistance, and logistics. Inapa IPG serves the graphic, office, printing, and industrial sectors, with historic operations in Portugal, Spain, Germany, France, Belgium, Austria, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Turkey, Angola, and Switzerland.
Founded in 1965 and headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal, Inapa IPG has positioned itself as one of Europe's leading paper distributors, with annual sales historically exceeding 900 million euros and approximately 1,478 employees prior to recent challenges. The company maintains subsidiaries such as Inapa France SA, Inapa Deutschland Holding GmbH, Europackaging - Investimentos, Participações e Gestão Lda, and Inapa Comunicação Visual Lda, targeting business-to-business customers in paper merchanting and related consumables.
In July 2024, Inapa IPG filed for insolvency under Portuguese law following a 12 million euro short-term cash shortfall at its German subsidiary Inapa Deutschland, leading to share suspension and delisting from Euronext Lisbon effective October 29, 2024. Amid insolvency proceedings, creditors approved the sales of key Portuguese assets in 2025, including Inapa Portugal to Black and Blue Investimentos (owned by Carlos Martins) for 390,000 euros in April, Inapa Packaging for 130,000 euros as part of a 600,000 euro package, and subsequent transactions involving Inapa Packaging to entities like Next Pack for 20 million euros and Carlos Martins for 11.8 million euros. These divestitures represent major strategic restructurings to address liquidity issues and reduce liabilities, with the core paper distribution business continuing under insolvency administration.