Japan's Unicharm has purchased APPP, Australia's second-largest diaper manufacturer and made it a wholly-owned subsidiary. With about 20% share of the local market, APPP is second in size only to Kimberly-Clark in Australia, according to reports.

The purchase is part of an agressive overseas expansion strategy for Unicharm, which reported non-domestic sales at 35% during the year ended March 2008. The acquisition of APPP is the company's first expansion into the Oceanic region.