- Leading manufacturer of glass packaging containers for the premium food and drinks market sold to Verallia Group
- First Fund VII exit
BOCA RATON, Fla. – November 2, 2022 – Sun Capital Partners, Inc. (“Sun Capital”), a leading private investment firm focused on defensible businesses in growing markets with tangible performance improvement opportunities, today announced that an affiliate has signed a definitive agreement to sell Allied Glass (“the Company” or “Allied”) to Verallia Group (“Verallia”) (ENXTPA: VRLA), the third largest producer of glass packaging for beverages and food products globally, headquartered in France, for a total enterprise value of £315 million. The sale of Allied will mark the first Fund VII exit. Sun Capital was advised by its European affiliate, Sun European Partners, LLP, in connection with this transaction.
Established in 1874 and headquartered in Leeds, UK, Allied is the leading UK-based manufacturer of glass packaging containers for the premium spirits, food and drinks markets. It specializes in shorter production runs for bespoke premium bottles which are manufactured to order.
“Allied is an outstanding business with an exceptional management team. Since 2019, we have worked with management to execute on several operational improvement opportunities, including ESG-friendly product innovation, SKU reporting and a significant CapEx program enhancing plant utilization,” said Paul Daccus, Managing Director of Sun European Partners. “Our work with Allied Glass underlines Sun Capital’s commitment to partnering with outstanding management teams to drive value creation. This sale has allowed us to achieve a very successful outcome for the Company and our investors, and we’re confident that Allied Glass will continue to go from strength to strength as part of Verallia, a global leader in glass manufacturing.”
Since an affiliate of Sun Capital acquired Allied in December 2019, value creation was accelerated through product innovation, and increasing recycled content in glass production, bolstering the ESG profile. The Company also introduced activity-based, product level costing platforms to enhance commercial and operational decision making and cost savings. Furthermore, a capex program for a new facility increased capacity and manufacturing efficiency. Each of these initiatives expanded the company’s market share and profitability, growing EBITDA significantly.
“Our partnership with the Sun European team has been a great success and today Allied Glass is a market leader in its field, with impressive technical capability and a flexible, customer-focused approach,” said Alan Henderson, CEO of Allied Glass. “Our shared values and focus on delivering a customer-first strategy, combined with Sun European’s operational knowledge and deep manufacturing expertise, have allowed us to transform and grow the business over the last 2-3 years and create further value through innovation and internal development.”
