Linpac Allibert, the returnable transit packaging arm of the Linpac Group, has been acquired by One Equity Partners of New York.
OEP, a private equity fund owned by JPMorgan Chase & Co., bought Linpac through LA-Holding BV, its acquisition vehicle subsidiary.
The deal was completed March 1. Financial details were not disclosed.
Linpac Allibert specializes in reusable containers and multi-trip systems, including folding, nesting, stacking and attached-lid containers, as well as dollies, pallets and bulk-handling equipment.
Based in Quinton, England, Linpac Allibert employs 1,150 in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain, and has sales offices in Belgium, Italy and Sweden. In 2010, the company posted sales of 181 million euros ($241.1 million).
In a statement, OEP said it acquired Linpac Allibert with the intention of creating a joint ownership structure with Schoeller Industries, the current partner of Schoeller Arca Systems, a plastic pallet and container suppler.
OEP already owns a controlling stake in Schoeller Arca, which is based in Zwolle, Netherlands. That firm has annual sales of about $600 million.
For now, the two companies will operate as independent sister companies, while OEP and other stakeholders discuss the possibility of integration.
Linpac Allibert is the latest segment of the Linpac Group to be sold following the company's debt restructuring in 2009.
In 2011, the Birmingham, England-based company sold five non-core business units — Linpac Environmental, Linpac Recycling, Linpac Storage Systems, Linpac Metal Decorating and Intellident — to funds managed by Chamonix Private Equity.
Last year Linpac employed around 7,000 at 77 locations in 29 countries on four continents, with annual sales of 1.3 billion euros ($1.7 billion).
