Blackstone buys plastic films producer

Blackstone, in a deal announced on 3 May, has agreed to buy German plastic films producer Klöckner Pentaplast (kp) for €1.3bn from Cinven and its minority partner JPMorgan Partners.

The acquisition price represents a multiple of 8X pro-forma EBITDA.

Cinven acquired kp in 2001, growing revenues from €833m in 2001, to €1.2bn in 2006, employing 3,700 people and with production operations in 12 countries.

Cinven partner Peter Gangsted said: “kp has been a successful investment for us in spite of difficult conditions caused by the oil price increase since 2002.”

Founded in 1965 in Montabaur, Germany, where it retains its headquarters, KP supplies films for pharmaceutical, medical device, food, electronics, and general-purpose thermoform packaging, as well as printing and specialty applications. Kp’s vision is to become ‘the number one film producer worldwide’.

Lionel Assant, managing director of the Blackstone Group, said: “We see in Klöckner Pentaplast a high quality business with a leading position in the plastic rigid film market.”

Cinven and JPMorgan Partners were advised by Morgan Stanley. Blackstone was advised by Gleiss Lutz.