The company said the announcement is the next logical step after the divestment of the North American business that was finalized in April 2014.
Deal expected to be complete by summer 2015
A formal bidding process for Verallia France, which reported sales of €2.435bn last year, will be launched based on second-half earnings, and is expected to reach an agreement with a buyer before summer 2015.
A spokesman for Ardagh Group told FoodProductionDaily it will be tracking the progress of the bidding.
“Ardagh will follow the Verallia process with some interest but it will not allow that process to disturb its IPO (Initial Public Offering) timeline,” he said.
Ardagh Group announced its 2014 third quarter results last month, reporting revenue of €1,311, an increase of 16% compared to 2013, claiming growth in other market sectors ‘offset continued sluggishness in the beer sector’.
The company completed the sale of six former Anchor Glass plants and certain related assets to an affiliate of KPS in June, recognising a net loss on disposal of €124m.
It also completed the purchase of 100% of the equity of Verallia North America (VNA), from Compagnie de Saint Gobain in April for a consideration of $1.5bn on a cash and debt free basis. The integration of that company continues as planned.
VNA, which has its HQ in Muncie, Indiana, is the second largest glass container manufacturer in the US, serving the North American F&B industries.
Saint-Gobain to buy Schenker Winkler Holding
Saint-Gobain has also announced plans to acquire a controlling interest in Sika, to be finalized in the second half of 2015. It wants to buy Schenker Winkler Holding, owner of 16.1% of Sika’s capital and 52.4% of its voting rights, for €2.3bn.
Pierre-André de Chalendar, chairman/CEO, Saint-Gobain, said the two transactions will accelerate the Group’s strategic refocus on the design, production and distribution of products for habitat and industry.
“We are looking forward to working with Sika to enhance the growth potential of this excellent business,” he said.
De Chalendar added the transactions with Verallia France and Sika meet the objectives the firm announced in November 2013 to raise the growth potential and reduce the capital intensity of its businesses.
It also wants to increase its presence in emerging countries, the US, and expand its range of products.
Following the acquisition, the Saint-Gobain Group will be able to fully consolidate Sika in its accounts. It does not intend to launch an offer for Sika’s remaining shares and said it has full confidence in the company to continue developing the business.
Sika employs more than 16,000 people in 84 countries and reported €4.3bn sales last year. Over the past few years, the company has shown more than 8% average annual growth between 2007 and 2013 and capacity for development in emerging countries (38% of its sales are made in emerging countries).
De Chalendar said given the proximity of Sika’s activities with those of Saint-Gobain (Construction Products, Innovative Materials, Building Distribution), the deal is expected to generate €100m in synergies as from the second year (2017), and €180m per year as from 2019.