Plastipak Packaging Inc., a subsidiary of Plymouth, Mich.-based plastic containers maker Plastipak Holdings Inc., expects to close this summer on a $300 million-plus deal to buy APPE Packaging from the liquidating La Seda de Barcelona SA in Spain.
Plastipak was the winning bidder on that division in November. The company in a statement this week said it has continued a due diligence review since then, and has entered a definitive purchase agreement to acquire the APPE, or Artenius PET Packaging Europe, business in Wrexham, Wales.
The deal, valued at 360 million euros, includes 65 million euros of accounts payable for a net purchase price of 295 million euros — or about $318 million at current exchange rates.
A commercial court in Spain, where La Seda is in liquidation, authorized the purchase Jan. 26, but the deal still must clear some regulatory reviews. Plastipak expects the purchase to close in June or July.
“We remain confident that this transaction will enable us to better serve our existing and future customers and ultimately to benefit consumers,” Chief Commercial Officer Frank Pollock of Plastipak said in a statement.
Plastipak Holdings reported just less than $2.3 billion in global sales for 2013. Plastipak Packaging has more than 4,000 employees at more than 30 locations in the U.S., South America and Europe.
“We look forward to welcoming the APPE workforce to our organization, and to adding their talent and capabilities to our own in the marketplace,” President and CEO William Young of Plastipak said in a company statement. “We are also eager to begin investing in the combined operations to continue to develop and offer innovative packaging solutions that address changing consumer demands and lifestyles.”
APPE, which has manufacturing operations in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, Poland, Morocco and Turkey, said in a statement it hopes the deal will be finalized June 1.
“I am delighted with the sale to Plastipak,” CEO Martin Hargreaves of APPE said in a separate statement. “Our recent ownership difficulties have held our business back from fully delivering and implementing creative packaging solutions for the market, so this is the most positive outcome for our business and its long term future.”
