KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 29): Shares of paper box and carton-maker Box-Pak (M) Bhd , which hit its highest in 14 years on Dec 28, continued to rally on Thursday as industry sources speak of a potential acquirer.

At 10.30am, Box-Pak was up 10 sen to RM2.57 with 2.52 million shares done.

The Edge Financial Daily on Thursday reported market sources as saying that Tokyo and Osaka-listed Oji Paper Co Ltd (Japan), Japan's largest paper company by sales, was believed to be the offeror.

Market watchers see Oji Paper ' which has bought three Malaysian paper-related ''companies since 2010 ' Genting Sanyen Industrial Paper, UNITED KOTAK BHD [], and HPI ''Resources Bhd ' as a likely suitor for Box-Pak.

An offer may come through its wholly-owned Malaysian arm, Oji Paper Asia Sdn Bhd (OPA), the investment holding vehicle that acquired both United Kotak and HPI Resources, one source said.

For more on Box-Pak, read today's edition of The Edge Financial Daily