Sidlaw looks to buy European packager
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND — Sidlaw Group plc is sizing up three possible continental European plastic packaging takeover targets.
The Edinburgh film extruder and food-packaging converter already has plants in France, Spain and the Netherlands.
``We have a short list of three target companies in the turnover range of £25 million to £40 million ($41 million to $66 million),'' said Chief Executive Officer John Durston.
The company wants to add capacity to print and convert polypropylene, polyester and polyethylene packaging film.
Durston said the focus is on Germany, Europe's biggest consumer market and a ``missing part of the jigsaw'' for Sidlaw. The firm expects to announce an acquisition by March, he said.
Sidlaw just concluded a year in which it continued to invest heavily in capital purchases. That included a $2.1 million investment in three Windmoller & Holscher extrusion lines for a plant in Ilkeston, England. The company now is considering investment in cast film capacity at its barrier film extrusion plant in Highbridge, England.
For the first nine months of 1998, Sidlaw reported pretax profit up 4 percent to £7.4 million ($12 million) on sales of £153.4 million ($250 million).
Britian's Hozelock facing 2nd takeover
AYLESBURY, ENGLAND — History is repeating itself for Hozelock plc, the weather-beaten producer of plastic garden watering goods and pond equipment, as it faces its second management buyout in eight years.
This time, the Aylesbury-based company is the target of an £85.1 million ($140 million) takeover backed by London venture capital company CVC.
For Hozelock Chief Executive Officer David Codling, who expects to head the new management, this also is the second time around. He was part of the 1990 buyout team that acquired Hozelock from Ropner plc in a deal in which CVC was an equity investor.
Independent directors on the Hozelock board have recommended that shareholders accept the cash offer, made through CVC's acquisition vehicle Thistlehaven plc. Shareholders have until the end of January to respond to the bid.
Hozelock has seen its business drenched in two of the wettest summers in Europe this century, with tumbling profit for the past two years running.
Hozelock, which went public in 1993, has two plants in England that extrude PVC hose, blow mold pressure vessel bottles for pump sprayers, injection mold hose connectors and other parts, and assemble products.
The company in December reported 1998 pretax profit of £4.7 million ($7.79 million) on sales of £53.9 million ($89.3 million). The profit figure was down from £6.8 million ($11.1 million) in 1997.
Perstop Flooring downsizes in Sweden
PERSTORP, SWEDEN — Perstorp Flooring, the laminate flooring division of Swedish chemicals and materials technology group Perstorp AB, is laying off 150 employees at two operations at Perstorp and Trelleborg, Sweden.
``The European market for laminate flooring has encountered reduced demand, at the same time as competition has intensified, especially in Germany,'' said Ake Fredriksson, Perstorp Group president and chief executive officer.
He added that the U.S. flooring market ``has remained favorable.'' The division has a manufacturing plant at Raleigh, N.C.
Perstorp Flooring has a total work force of 1,250.
Unette Corp. wins P&G award — again
WHARTON, N.J. — Extruder and contract filler Unette Corp. has received the Pinnacle Award from Procter & Gamble Co., the third consecutive year they have received the award for vendor quality. Unette, based in Wharton, provides unit-of-use tubes to P&G's cosmetic division.
