- Allied Glass is the leading UK-based manufacturer of glass packaging containers for the premium food and drinks market
- Sun European affiliate signs definitive agreement to sell Allied Glass to Verallia Group (ENXTPA: VRLA), a global producer of glass packaging for beverages and food products
London, November 2nd 2022 – An affiliate of Sun European Partners, LLP (“Sun European”), a leading private investment firm focused on defensible businesses in growing markets with tangible performance improvement opportunities, has signed a definitive agreement to sell Allied Glass (“the Company” or “Allied”) to Verallia Group (“Verallia”), 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 exit for Fund VII.
Established in 1874 and headquartered in Leeds, Allied is the leading UK-based manufacturer of glass packaging containers for the premium spirits, food and drinks markets. It specialises in shorter production runs for bespoke premium bottles which are manufactured to order.
Since an affiliate of Sun European acquired Allied in December 2019, value creation was accelerated through product innovation, increasing recycled content in glass production, bolstering the ESG profile. Allied also introduced activity-based, product level costing platforms to enhance commercial and operational decision making and cost savings. Furthermore, a capex programme for a new facility increased capacity and manufacturing efficiency. Each of these initiatives expanded the company’s market share and profitability, growing EBITDA significantly.
Paul Daccus, Managing Director of Sun European Partners, said: “Allied is an outstanding business with an exceptional management team. Before investing in the company, we identified several operational opportunities and have worked with management since 2019 to execute on those, including ESG-friendly product innovation, SKU reporting and a significant capex programme enhancing plant utilisation. Our work with Allied Glass underlines Sun European’s commitment to partnering with outstanding management teams to drive value creation. This sale has allowed us to achieve a very successful outcome for Allied Glass 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.”
Alan Henderson, CEO of Allied Glass, added: “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. 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 further over the last 2-3 years as well as creating further value through innovation and internal development.”
Sun European was advised on the transaction by Baird (M&A Advisory), EY (Financial), S&C (Tax) and DLA Piper (Legal).
Media contacts
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Jen Renwick / Julia Tilley
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SunEuropeanPartners@Camarco.co.uk
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About Sun European Partners, LLP
Sun European Partners, LLP is a leading private investment advisory firm, focused on partnering with outstanding management teams to accelerate value creation. Since 1995, affiliates of Sun European have invested in more than 475 companies worldwide with revenues in excess of €40 billion across a broad range of industries and transaction structures. The Firm has built a reputation as a trusted partner, recognised for its operational experience. Sun European focuses on defensible businesses in growing markets with tangible performance improvement opportunities in the Business Services, Consumer, Healthcare, Industrial, and Technology sectors. Sun European Partners has offices in London and affiliates with offices in Boca Raton, Los Angeles, and New York.
For more information, please visit www.suneuropeanpartners.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 customisation. 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