LONDON, UK Sun European Partners, LLP (“Sun European Partners”), the European adviser to Sun Capital Partners, Inc., announces that it has created a pan–European flexible packaging specialist, Britton Group, and a pan–European rigid packaging specialist, PACCOR by combining existing affiliated portfolio companies.
The new pan–European flexible packaging specialist, Britton Group, will be comprised of three existing affiliates of Sun European Partners: (i) Britton Group, a provider of extrusion, printing, lamination, and conversion services based in the UK; (ii) Reuther Verpackung GmbH & Co. KG (“Reuther”), a German and Polish–based provider of printing, laminating and converting bags that serve as packaging for the pet food, confectionery, and coffee/tea industries (among others); and (iii) the flexible packaging division of Veriplast Solutions (“Veriplast”), the French–based provider of a variety of flexible packaging solutions including extrusion, printing, lamination, and conversion. The combination of these three companies will result in production optimization through facility specialization and enhanced packaging solutions resulting from technology, best practices, and research and development that are shared across the new company. Customers will benefit from a broader, more innovative product offering across a larger geographic footprint which will better serve both pan–European and local customers alike. The combined business will also create economies of scale with annual turnover of approximately €311 million. Britton Group will be based in the UK will have operations across four European countries, the UK, France, Germany and Poland.
The new pan–European rigid packaging specialist PACCOR will be created from the merger of two existing affiliates of Sun European Partners: (i) PACCOR, the German–based European rigid plastic consumer goods division formerly owned by Huhtamaki Oyji, and (ii) the rigid packaging division of Veriplast, which provides a variety of rigid packaging solutions for the food, beverage, health, home, and personal care sectors. The merger of these rigid packaging companies will result in production optimization and enhanced packaging solutions resulting from technology, best practices, and research and development that are shared across the new company. Customers will benefit from a broader, more innovative product offering across a larger geographic footprint which will better serve both pan–European and local customers alike. The combined business will also create economies of scale with annual turnover of approximately €370 million. The newly combined company will continue to be integrated with future rigid packaging acquisitions. PACCOR will be based in Germany and will have operations across ten European countries, Germany, Poland, France, UK, Spain, Bulgaria, Turkey, the Netherlands, Finland, and Lithuania.
Lionel de Posson, Vice President of Sun European Partners said: “We are very excited by these transactions. Customers will benefit from the size and scale of the combined businesses, the extensive product offering and the geographic reach. Supplier relationships will be deepened as they grow with these businesses to meet the new scale and breadth of Britton Group and PACCOR. Furthermore, these businesses are owned by affiliates of Sun European Partners that have more than €1.75 billion of capital available for investment and so these pan–European flexible and rigid packaging companies have capital available to them for any attractive future acquisitions, capital expenditure or other growth opportunities.”
About Sun European Partners, LLP
Sun European Partners, LLP is the European adviser to Sun Capital Partners, Inc., a leading U.S.–based private investment firm focused on leveraged buyouts, equity, debt, and other investments in market–leading companies that can benefit from its in–house operating professionals and experience. Affiliates of Sun Capital Partners, Inc. have invested in over 265 companies worldwide with combined sales in excess of $40 billion since the inception of Sun Capital Partners, Inc. in the U.S. in 1995. Sun Capital Partners, Inc. has offices in Boca Raton, Los Angeles, and New York, as well as affiliates in London, Frankfurt, Paris, Luxembourg, Shanghai and Shenzhen. For more information, please visit www.SunEuropeanPartners.com
Affiliates of Sun European Partners, LLP have acquired 17 packaging companies with combined revenue in excess of $3.1 billion, including Albéa, Exopack Holding, PaperWorks Industries, Paccor, Britton Group, Reuther Verpackung GmbH & Co. KG, and Veriplast Solutions.
