Carlyle to buy Astorg’s Saverglass in €560m SBO

Pending works council consultation, the deal should go through in early January 2016. A source familiar with the situation told unquote" Saverglass has been valued at around €560m during the talks, approximately 6.5x Saverglass's latest reported EBITDA.

According to a representative from the buy-side, the SBO will see Carlyle acquire a stake along the lines of the 80% hitherto held by Astorg, while the rest will be kept by the co-investing management team.

Carlyle intends to finance the takeover via its fourth fund, which closed on its €3.75bn hard-cap in July. Having recently funded the €440m takeover of PAI Partners' Dutch lingerie retailer Hunkemöller, the vehicle has so far been used for eight deals and deployed a little more than a third of its capital.

Debt
The SBO will be supported with a debt facility underwritten by Credit Agricole and Societe Generale. The package features revolver and capex facilities, as well as a term-B loan, unquote" understands.

Previous funding
Once it goes forward, the buyout will be the third seen by Saverglass since being bought from its family owners in 2006, according to unquote" data.

In October that year, Natexis Industrie, Natexis Investissement and Credit Agricole Private Equity teamed up to secure a joint 83% stake in the bottle maker, while management retained the remaining 17%. The deal, valuing Saverglass at €190m, was 60-70% leveraged.

In May 2011, the consortium of shareholders offloaded Saverglass to Astorg Partners in a €420m SBO. The firm acquired an 80% stake, while the remaining 20% stayed in the hands of a management team.

Astorg, which pre-empted the sale process with a firm offer, drew equity from its €800m fourth fund; the investment was the last to come from the vehicle.

After a four-year tenure where an employee shareholding scheme was set up, the GP kickstarted a sale process for Saverglass restricted to six private equity funds - trade buyers were left out in an attempt to preserve the company's independence, unquote" understands.

Bids were then put forward by Carlyle, CVC and PAI Partners, among others; Carlyle eventually got the nod given the firm's quicker reaction and a purchase price that satisfied the selling shareholders.

Company
Founded in 1897, Saverglass designs bottles and other glass packaging products for wine and spirit producers, as well as clients within the perfume and cosmetics sectors.

Headquartered in Feuquières, the company employs 2,600 staff worldwide and manufactures its products via seven sites in France and the UAE.

The network sells 400,000 tonnes of glass across 80 countries per year, leading to a €395m turnover in 2014.

People
Carlyle's work on the deal was led by managing director Jonathan Zafrani, director Benjamin Deshayes and associate director Thomas Rajzbaum. Astorg Partners was represented by chairperson Xavier Moreno and associate Charles-Hubert Le Baron. Loïc Quentin de Gromard is Saverglass's current CEO.

Advisers
Equity - Messier Maris & Associés, Erik Maris, Edouard Brunet (M&A); Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier, Bertrand Cardi, Olivier Huyghues Despointes, Alexandre Durand, Martin Lebeuf, Emmanuelle Vicidomini (Legal); Arsene Taxand, Mirouna Verban, Yoann Chemama (Tax); A.T. Kearney, Jean Boschat, Hugo Azerad (Commercial due diligence); KPMG, Mathieu Wallich-Petit, Olivier Boumendil, Jean-Philippe Chiarasini (Corporate finance); PwC Tax & Legal Services, Anne-Valérie Attias-Assouline, Yannick Olivier, Bernard Borrely, Nicolas Arfel, Audrey Benguira, Charlotte de Beco (Social due diligence, Tax); PWC Advisory, Bertille Crichton-Nioche (Environmental due diligence).
Vendor - Rothschild, Laurent Baril, Guillaume Basini (M&A); Canaccord Genuity, Nadim Barouki, Grégoire Le Sourd (M&A); Paul Hasting, Alexis Terray, Sébastien Crépy, Claire Le Louarn, Allard de Waal, Thomas Pulcini (Legal, Tax); Eight Advisory, Stéphane Vanbergue, Gennat Mouline (Financial due diligence).
Management - Callisto, Eric Delorme, Guillaume Bodart (Corporate finance); Eric Delattre (Legal).
Debt - Latham & Watkins, Lionel Dechmann (Legal).

 

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• Astorg Partners
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