BOCA RATON, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sun Capital Partners, Inc., a leading private investment firm focused on defensible businesses in growing markets with tangible performance improvement opportunities, today announced that an affiliate has signed a definitive agreement to sell Allied Glass to Verallia Group, the third largest producer of glass packaging for beverages and food products globally, headquartered in France, for a total enterprise value of £315 million. The sale of Allied will mark the first Fund VII exit. Sun Capital was advised by its European affiliate, Sun European Partners, LLP, in connection with this transaction.
Established in 1874 and headquartered in Leeds, UK, Allied is the leading UK-based manufacturer of glass packaging containers for the premium spirits, food and drinks markets. It specializes in shorter production runs for bespoke premium bottles which are manufactured to order.
“Allied is an outstanding business with an exceptional management team. Since 2019, we have worked with management to execute on several operational improvement opportunities, including ESG-friendly product innovation, SKU reporting and a significant CapEx program enhancing plant utilization,” said Paul Daccus, Managing Director of Sun European Partners. “Our work with Allied Glass underlines Sun Capital’s commitment to partnering with outstanding management teams to drive value creation. This sale has allowed us to achieve a very successful outcome for the Company and our investors, and we’re confident that Allied Glass will continue to go from strength to strength as part of Verallia, a global leader in glass manufacturing.”
Since an affiliate of Sun Capital acquired Allied in December 2019, value creation was accelerated through product innovation, and increasing recycled content in glass production, bolstering the ESG profile. The Company also introduced activity-based, product level costing platforms to enhance commercial and operational decision making and cost savings. Furthermore, a capex program for a new facility increased capacity and manufacturing efficiency. Each of these initiatives expanded the company’s market share and profitability, growing EBITDA significantly.
“Our partnership with the Sun European team has been a great success and today Allied Glass is a market leader in its field, with impressive technical capability and a flexible, customer-focused approach,” said Alan Henderson, CEO of Allied Glass. “Our shared values and focus on delivering a customer-first strategy, combined with Sun European’s operational knowledge and deep manufacturing expertise, have allowed us to transform and grow the business over the last 2-3 years and create further value through innovation and internal development.”
About Sun Capital Partners, Inc.
Sun Capital Partners, Inc. is a global private equity firm focused on partnering with outstanding management teams to accelerate value creation. Since 1995, Sun Capital has invested in more than 465 companies worldwide with revenues in excess of $50 billion across a broad range of industries and transaction structures. The firm has built a reputation as a trusted partner, recognized for its operational experience. Sun Capital focuses on defensible businesses in growing markets with tangible performance improvement opportunities in the Business Services, Consumer, Healthcare, Industrial, and Technology sectors. The firm has offices in Boca Raton, Los Angeles and New York, and an affiliate with offices in London. For more information, please visit www.suncappart.com.
About Allied Glass
For over 150 years, Allied Glass has been chosen to bring the world’s finest brands to life and the extraordinary people that work at Allied have supported this vision. Inspired by their customers, Allied Glass create some of the most innovative and distinctive glass packaging, with each new design striving to stretch the bounds of possibility.
From the moment glass making began at the company’s Yorkshire factories, Allied Glass have been continually driven by the idea of exceeding expectations. In the early days, this took place only in their local area yet today, Allied Glass packaging travels widely supporting customers’ brands across the globe.
In recent years, under the stewardship of the company’s CEO Alan Henderson, Allied Glass has grown and developed to meet new challenges, developing our expertise in manufacturing and customization. However, it hasn’t changed completely: at its core, Allied Glass still endeavors to achieve new levels of excellence that support a unique combination of luxury and innovation.
For more information, please visit www.allied-glass.com
About Verallia
At Verallia, our purpose is to re-imagine glass for a sustainable future. We want to redefine how glass is produced, reused and recycled, to make it the world’s most sustainable packaging material. We work in common cause with our customers, suppliers and other partners across the value chain to develop new healthy and sustainable solutions for all. With around 10,000 people and 32 glass production facilities in 11 countries, we are the leading European and the third largest producer globally of glass containers for food and beverages, providing innovative, customized and environmentally friendly solutions to more than 10,000 businesses around the world. Verallia produced more than 16 billion bottles and jars and achieved revenues of €2.7 billion in 2021. Verallia is listed on compartment A of the Euronext Paris stock exchange (Ticker: VRLA – ISIN: FR0013447729) and belongs to the SBF 120, CAC Mid 60, CAC Mid & Small et CAC All-Tradable indexes. For more information: www.verallia.com.
