GORDONSVILLE, VA. (March 13, 4:40 p.m. ET) — Kl"ckner Pentaplast's owner Blackstone Group LP is discussing financial realignment, but the film and sheet major won't confirm a Bloomberg report that Oaktree Capital Management LP is also involved in the discussions.
“KP confirms that, over the course of the last several weeks, it has been supporting lender discussions and has enabled them to move forward in a constructive manner in order to realign the company's balance sheet and financing structure in a consensual manger to provide the group with a stronger foundation,” KP said in an e-mailed statement.
Bloomberg reported March 12 that Blackstone and Oaktree are working toward a restructuring that will leave the two investors with a majority stake in the company. The report added that KP will need to put itself up for sale if an agreement cannot be reached by March 21. Bloomberg attributed its story to unnamed, well-placed sources. Blackstone and Oaktree did not respond to inquiries of the deal. Blackstone bought KP in 2007 for $1.8 billion.
Late last year KP said Blackstone was evaluating whether to realign the film and sheet company's balance sheet following a downward credit rating by Standard & Poor's from CCC+ to CCC-.
KP spokeswoman Nancy Ryan said at the time — and reiterated in a March 13 e-mail — that Blackstone's efforts were independent from her firm's solid operational performance and do not affect its daily business. Standard & Poor' said in late November that KP holding company Kleopatra Lux 1Sarl of Luxembourg had a highly leveraged capital structure that it viewed as unsustainable.
KP is a leader in film and sheet for pharmaceutical, medical, food, electronics, thermoforming, printing and specialties. The Montabaur, Germany, company has annual sales exceeding $1.4 billion. Subsidiary Klockner Pentaplast of America Inc. of Gordonsville, Va., is Ryan's home base.
“KP's controlling shareholders (advised by affiliates of the Blackstone Group LP) are fully supportive of the management team and the business,” Ryan said in a recent e-mail. “The group has a strong liquidity position with plenty of cash available to support solid continuing operations for customers and suppliers. The KP group is well positioned within its key international markets as has been confirmed by external ratings agencies and independent external consultants.”
“KP recognizes the current discussions regarding realigning KP's balance sheet and financing structure as being constructive and offering an opportunity to further strengthen its financial and capital structure during these challenging economic times.”
Bloomberg reported that Oaktree, the Bank of Ireland and the lending arm of General Electric Co. have proposed to take over the plastic films producer in a deal that will reduce KP's borrowings to less than 500 million euros, down from about 1.2 billion euros. The deal would wipe out claims of junior creditors owed about 350 million euros. Oaktree would agree to sell some its equity to Blackstone, leaving both firms as controlling shareholders.
Blackstone is based in New York. Oaktree is in Los Angeles.