AUSTRIA – French investment company Wendel Group has signed an agreement to sell Constantia Flexibles to an affiliate of One Rock Capital Partners.
Based in Austria, Constantia is a manufacturer of flexible packaging for over 4,000 pharmaceutical, food and consumer goods customers.
Wendel said that Constantia would be sold for a price that yields net proceeds of €1.1 billion (US$1.20bn).
According to the company, the sale price represents a multiple of 1.94 times Wendel’s total investment in Constantia since 2015. In 2015, Wendel acquired Constantia for an enterprise value of €2.3 billion (US$2.51bn).
Wendel said the transaction’s net proceeds exceeded Constantia’s valuation by €84 million (US$91.71m), according to Wendel’s net set value, published prior to the transaction announcement, as of 31 March this year.
Furthermore, additional proceeds generated by Constantia’s ongoing assets disposals will further bring the proceeds up to €1.12 billion (US$1.23bn).
David Darmon, Wendel Group’s deputy CEO, said: “The history of Constantia Flexibles within Wendel’s portfolio highlights the validity of our long-term investor model, which has enabled us to support the company in its development.
“Constantia Flexibles has thus placed innovation at the heart of its growth model, enabling it to rise to the challenge of the circular economy without compromising on the functional requirements of its products.”
He continued: “Under Pim Vervaat’s leadership, all Constantia Flexibles teams demonstrated their commitment and resilience during the Covid-19 crisis and coped brilliantly with the recent disruptions in the energy and commodities markets.
“They enabled the company to deliver outstanding operational, financial and extra-financial performance.”
The closing of the transaction is expected to take place during the second half of 2023, subject to the satisfaction of the contractual conditions precedents, including the clearance by regulatory authorities.
ESG achievements since 2015
For more than 8 years, Wendel has supported Constantia Flexibles in its ESG challenges, and more specifically in the issues of the circular economy and the fight against climate change.
As a result, since 2018 the Austrian group has had a greenhouse gas emissions reduction trajectory approved by the SBTi. 85% of its products are designed for recycling or have a recyclable alternative.
Occupational safety has always been an absolute priority for Wendel, and special attention has been paid to this issue, resulting in continuous improvement, with the accident frequency rate falling from 13.4 in 2014 to 2.2 in 2022.
The relevance of the in-depth work carried out by Wendel and Constantia is reflected in the Group’s excellent extra-financial ratings, with an A- rating from the CDP and the Ecovadis Gold medal, ranking Constantia among the top 2% of companies in its sector.
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