Citic Capital nears Axilone SBO

Citic said in a statement that the deal could close before the end of the year. Oaktree has owned the business since 2011 and launched a Rothschild-run sale process over the summer.

Citic was competing against Bain Capital and FountainVest in the second round of the sale process, as reported by unquote" sister publication Mergermarket.

The investment would come from the Citic Capital China Partners III fund, which is expected to close on $2bn. The private equity firm has already closed the US-dollar-denominated portion at the hard-cap of $1.57bn and is seeking a further $439m in renminbi, according to AVCJ.  

Axilone is part of the Ileos Group, a producer of packaging for the fragrance, cosmetics and wine and spirits markets.

Ileos has been owned by Oaktree since December 2011, when 21 Centrale Partners sold packaging company Nord-Est for 6.5-7x EBITDA, which valued the transaction at around €300m.

Over the past few years, Oaktree has made several bolt-on acquisitions and reorganised the Ileos group into three business units: Axilone, perfume samples and promotions specialist Bioplan, and soft packaging provider Ileos Graphic.

Company
Founded in 1971, Axilone is headquartered in Paris and has 2,000 employees globally. The company provides plastic and metal casings for lipstick, fragrance and skincare products. It has subsidiaries in France, Spain, the US and China, and manufacturing facilities in France, Spain and China.

People
Citic Capital – Hanxi Zhao (senior managing director).
Oaktree Capital Management – Jean Rollier (managing director).
Ileos Group – Jean Rollier (CEO).

Advisers 
Acquirer – Latham & Watkins (legal); Moelis & Company (M&A).
Vendor – Weil Gotshal & Manges (legal); Rothschild & Co (M&A).

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