Aksìa sells Plastiape for €71m

The company's management team reinvested in the company as part of the secondary buyout.

The transaction is the second in the Italian pharmaceuticals sector in recent weeks following Charterhouse's acquisition of Doc Generici in the GP's first foray into the Italian market.

The exit sees Aksìa Capital III enjoy returns of around 3x money. The vehicle holds €147m and closed in 2007. Following the exit of Robuschi in December 2011, the GP has returned around 75% of total drawdowns to investors.

Debt
GE Capital, UBI Banca and Banca Popolare dell'Emilia Romagna provided financing to support the secondary buyout.

Previous funding
In 2008, Aksìa acquired a 53.9% stake in the firm in an LBO valued at more than €40m. Aksìa's equity investment amounted to €20m. Banca Popolare di Milano and Interbanca underwrote the €18m senior debt that also included the refinancing of Plastiape's previous debt facilities.

The company's new CEO bought a minority stake in the firm, with the balance held by the existing shareholders. The proprietary deal took close to one year to complete due to lengthy negotiations regarding the stakes held by former shareholding families.

Company
Headquartered in Osnago, Plastiape was founded in 1970. The company manufactures packaging for the pharmaceutical, personal care products and medical devices sectors. The firm has facilities in Italy and Poland. 

Plastiape employs 283 members of staff and reports annual revenues of approximately €50m. Exports account for more than 70% of revenues. 

People
Nicola Emanuele is a managing partner at Aksìa.

Advisers
Vendor – Fineurop Soditic (Corporate finance); Deloitte (Financial due diligence); Accinni Cartolano & Associati (Legal).

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Southern Europe
• Industrials
• Exits
• Buyouts
• Italy