Cerea and BPI France carve out Chesapeake division

The auction process for the sale began in May last year and was carried out alongside the sale of parent group Chesapeake, which was bought by Carlyle in July 2013.

The division will be renamed over the coming weeks.

The deal saw Cerea taking a 56% stake in the company and BPI France picking up a 30% holding.

Debt
Senior mezzanine and unitranche acquisition facilities, from both bank and non-bank lenders, were put in place to finance the deal. Alcentra has been named as the unitranche provider, with Frédéric Méreau of the European Direct Lending and Mezzanine Investments team taking a seat on the company's board as an observer. 

Company
Establihsed in 1987, the speciality chemical packaging division of Chesapeake is a European manufacturer of in-mould fluorinated and other plastic packaging used for transporting and storing goods. The division focuses primarily on serving the agrochemical and flavour & fragrance markets.

The division is headquartered in Crewe, UK, and operates manufacturing facilities in the UK, France and Hungary. The entity employs around 200 people across Europe and generates revenues of around €50m.

People
Gilles Sicard is executive managing director at Cerea.

Advisers
Equity – DC Advisory (Corporate finance, debt).

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• Carlyle Group
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