Apollo Global to buy packaging group RPC
Apollo Global Management is to buy packaging products maker RPC Group for 3.3 billion pounds (US $4.28 billion) in cash after months of negotiations, marking the latest M&A deal for an industry in the midst of a consolidation phase, according to news agency Reuters.
The acquisition is stated to highlight how the sector’s reliable cashflow, driven by demand from online shopping, is proving attractive to private equity firms and bigger packaging players. RPC, Europe’s biggest plastic packaging maker, makes a range of products including packaging for beverages, coffee capsules and healthcare products.
Apollo’s offer of 782 pence per share represents a premium of 15.6 percent to RPC’s closing price on Sept. 7, the last trading day before the offer period began. Aviva Investors, which owns a 1.93 percent stake in RPC according to Refinitiv Eikon data, said separately that it did not agree with the terms of Apollo’s offer. “In our view, this protracted bid process has not delivered fair value to RPC’s shareholders,” said David Cumming, Chief Investment Officer for Equities at Aviva Investors. The final offer price was some way behind what analysts had suggested was possible, said Nicholas Hyett, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. Hyett said it was not impossible for a rival bidder to emerge but plastic packaging was far from popular at the moment and with the global economy looking rocky, it might be asking a bit much to expect a rival to pay around 4 billion pounds to keep RPC out of private equity hands. He also said that with board backing and minimal regulatory concerns, he expected the deal to go through.
