Private equity firm 3i Group plc is picking up Germany's Weener Plastic Packaging Group as a new portfolio company, paying 250 million euros ($277.3 million) to buy the ownership stake from private equity group Lindsay Goldberg Vogel.
WPPG designs, develops and manufactures added value caps, closures and roll-on balls, as well as jars and bottles for the personal care, food and beverage, and home care market. Headquartered in Weener, Germany, the company has 24 locations in 15 countries and approximately 2,000 employees across the world.
Its customer portfolio includes blue-chip names such as Beiersdorf, ColgatePalmolive, L'Oréal, Nestlé, P&G and Unilever. It generated sales of approximately 270 million euros ($299.5 million) in 2014.
New York-based Lindsay Goldberg Vogel created WPPG in 2013 when it united two separate plastic packaging firms — Weener Plastik AG of Germany and the Netherlands-based Plasticum Group BV. It had owned those two companies since 2010.
Now with support from London-based 3i, WPPG is on the hunt for more growth.
“We will be able to take our company's development to the next level by fostering growth, expanding our global footprint, continuing to build our innovation leadership and furher improving the efficiency and effectiveness of our operations,” CEO Roel Zeevat said in a news release.
Weener has injection molding, injection blow molding, injection stretch blow molding and in-house mold making.
Ulf von Haacke, 3i managing director and head of industrial, 3i Private Equity, said: “WPPG's focus on innovation and superior technical know-how is a huge competitive advantage. The company has a leading position in its core markets and we look forward to working with the strong management team to further increase the Company's market share and global footprint through a buy-and-build strategy.”