Rigid films maker Klöckner Pentaplast Group plans to go public.
The holding company for the Montabaur, Germany-based firm revealed Dec. 21 the filing of paperwork with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission relating to a proposed initial public stock offering.
As is common in such initial filings, no share price or total amount of shares expected to be sold is included in the preliminary filing. Those details typically are added at a later time.
The move to become a public company follows previous reported attempts to sell the firm in 2014, which is has been owned by Strategic Value Partners since 2012. Reports at the time indicated offers for the company came in below expectations.
A company's IPO paperwork provides a window into company information that might otherwise not be shared publicly.
Klöckner Pentaplast reports net sales for fiscal year 2016 of $1.403 billion, with a net loss of $11.6 million for the period ended Sept. 30. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization was $242.9 million. Net sales were $1.48 billion in fiscal year 2015 and $1.621 billion in fiscal year 2014.
Key markets for the company include pharmaceutical, which accounted for 25 percent of fiscal 2016 net sales, and food and consumer packaging, which had 37 percent of sales. Labels had 14 percent of sales and specialties added 22 percent.
PET and PVC are the company's primary base polymers and “have seen consistent and stable growth in our largest developed markets.”
The company said it believes it is “the global leader in the PVC market” for its applications.
Current owners “will continue to control a majority of the voting power of our outstanding common stock” after completion of the IPO, the filing states.
Klöckner Pentaplast completed the purchase of Farmamak of Gebze, Turkey, in late October, a move the company said would strengthen its position in the food, consumer goods and pharmaceutical markets as well as in Turkey.