Denmark's A.P. Møller-Maersk Group is selling most of Rosti Technical Plastics Holding A/S (RTP) to Stella Plastic Holding AB, a subsidiary of Swedish investment group Nordstjernan AB, for an undisclosed sum.
The deal includes injection molding plants in China, India, the Netherlands, Poland and Scotland. It does not include RTP's U.S. plants — in Minden, La.; Irving, Texas, and Searcy, Ark. — although the investment group has an option to buy those plants at a later date. The deal is scheduled to close in the first quarter of 2010.
Börje Vernet, CEO of the new company, said the deal offers Stella an opportunity to grow outside northern Europe.
“We have been wanting to grow in the international injection molding market for some time and have looked at several acquisition possibilities,” he said. “With this deal we are acquiring operations all over the world, for example, in Asia, Eastern Europe and the [United Kingdom].”
The merged Stella/RTP group will have around 1,600 employees, mostly in Asia and Poland, and sales of about 150 million euros ($225.6 million). The new company will be based in Copenhagen.
Maersk sold RTP as part of a strategy to dispose of assets that do not fall under its core shipping and energy businesses.
Stella — formerly GP Plastic — has annual sales of 42 million euros ($63.2 million) and mainly produces injection molded products for the food industry. It has plants in Germany and Sweden.
Nordstjernan is a family-controlled investment group with holdings concentrated in Scandinavia.
“Nordstjernan is looking for substantial add-on acquisitions for most of our holdings and we are happy to have found RTP,” the group said in a statement. “RTP is Nordstjernan's first investment in Denmark and we hope it will be followed by more Danish investments.”
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