Acquisition

Bunzl PLC
17 October 2001


                BUNZL EXPANDS OUTSOURCING SERVICES FURTHER IN

                           NORTH AMERICA AND EUROPE


Bunzl plc, the international Group supplying business to business consumables,
today announces that it has further expanded its North American Outsourcing
Services business through the acquisition of the Eastern Paper division of EPC
Industries, a distributor based in the Maritimes area of Canada.

Eastern Paper, which had sales of C$36 million in 2000 and estimated net
assets at completion of C$11.5 million, supplies supermarkets, redistributors
and food processors and is a leading distributor in the Atlantic Canada
market.

Bunzl also announces that it has further expanded its European Outsourcing
Services business through the acquisition from the Danish Grocers Federation
of the DKI Group, which supplies packaging consumables and equipment to the
Danish supermarket and food processing industries.

Sales of DKI in 2000 were DKr224 million and the net assets acquired at
completion are estimated to be DKr34 million.

Commenting on the acquisitions, Anthony Habgood, Chairman of Bunzl plc said:

'The acquisition of Eastern Paper completes our geographic coverage of Canada
and will also increase our ability to service national customers.

Adding DKI to our operations in Denmark increases our product offering and
widens our customer base there.'


Enquiries:

Bunzl plc                                        Finsbury
Anthony Habgood, Chairman                        Roland Rudd
David Williams, Finance Director                 Morgan Bone
Tel:  [phone]                              Tel:  [phone]