PAI to exit GCS in €650m trade sale

Awaiting approval by the competition authorities, GCS's works councils and RPC's shareholders, the trade sale values the company at €650m.

Listed on the London stock exchange since 1993, RPC was most recently trading with a £1.91bn market cap. The group will finance the purchase via £232.6m in fresh equity and its existing revolving credit facility, which was boosted from £490m to £770m in the run-up to the deal.

According to the trade buyer, the takeover of GCS will provide it with an entryway into segments such as personal care, beverages and winemakers. The addition of GCS's manufacturing plants in Mexico, the US and China, among others, is expected to boost its production rates worldwide.

The exit is the sixth for PAI's fourth buyout fund, which closed on €2.7bn in May 2005. The GP, which will reap €186m in proceeds from the trade sale, has been a majority owner in GCS since carving it out from US corporate Crown Holdings in October 2005.

At the time, the GP acquired a 97% stake in a deal valued at a total €583m, €365m of which came in the form of a debt package from CSFB, Bank of America and Citigroup, according to unquote" data.

GCS is the second asset to be divested by PAI in the space of a week. The buyout house recently offloaded Dutch lingerie retailer Hunkemöller to Carlyle. The SBO, valued at an estimated €500m, resulted in a 2.3x return for PAI, according to an unquote" source.

Company
Having rebranded in 2005, GCS was created via the combination of a group of German, French and British businesses. The group manufactures plastic and metal bottle tops and dispensing systems for food and beverage sellers, winemakers and the healthcare industry, among others.

Headquartered in Saint-Cloud, near Paris, the company employs 3,500 staff worldwide and claims to produce 40 billion products every year via 21 sites in Europe, Asia, Mexico and the US. During the 12 months leading to September 2015, it posted €603m and €95m in revenues and EBITDA, respectively.

People
PAI was represented by partner Laurent Rivoire. Pim Vervaat is RPC's current CEO.

Advisers
Vendor – Crédit Suisse (Corporate finance).

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