Pillarstone acquires Manucor

Alessia Argentieri
04 May 2018

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KKR's Pillarstone has wholly acquired Italy-based polypropylene films producer Manucor.

Pillarstone acquired the company via a newco named SP Film, which is wholly controlled by the vehicle.

In December 2015, Pillarstone took over Intesa Sanpaolo's long-term loan to Manucor as part of the acquisition of a larger portfolio of exposures valued at around €1bn, granted to five companies by Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit.

In addition to acquiring the entirety of Manucor's equity and becoming the sole shareholder of the company, Pillarstone has also completed its debt restructuring and recapitalisation, converting €10.2m of debt into share capital and giving the company the option of converting an additional €5m, while the residual €25m debt has been rescheduled as a bullet to 2022.

With the fresh capital, the company intends to pursue its 2018-2022 investment plan's objectives, including €15m' worth of investments aimed at upgrading the company's production capacity and improve its sales in the short term.

Following the transaction, Pillarstone appointed a new board led by Luigi Scagliotti as CEO, while Giuseppe Garofano will remain as chair.

Pillarstone is a Europen restructuring vehicle dedicated to underperforming assets. In 2015, the fund acquired a portfolio of loans granted to five companies, Manucor, Burgo, Lediberg, Alfa Park and Cuki, from Italian banks Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit, with an aggregate nominal value of €1bn. In addition to this, in 2016 Pillerstone acquired Sirti's loan from Intesa Sanpaolo and Permuda's loan from Carige. The last deal was made by Pillarstone in 2017, when the vehicle acquired RDB Amadori, which was then declared bankrupt by an Italian court in January 2018. Pillarstone has now around €2bn in bank debt under management, with more than €200m in committed investment.

Company
Founded in 1987 and based in Sessa Aurunca, near Caserta, Manucor specialises in the production of polypropylene films for flexible packaging, labels and adhesive tapes. The company employs 250 staff and generated EBITDA of €3.3m from a turnover of €140m in 2017.

People
Pillarstone – John Davison (CEO).
Manucor – Luigi Scagliotti (CEO); Giuseppe Garofano (chair).

Advisers
Pillarstone – Deloitte (financial due diligence); RCC (legal).