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Wendel
60.6
(1) as of December 31, 2018.
Constantia Flexibles expands its international footprint to serve its global clients
Constantia Flexibles is a global leader in flexible packaging. The group produces flexible packaging solutions, primarily for the food and pharmaceutical industries.
Key figures
2018 Sales
€1,538.3m
39 manufacturing sites in
17 countries
Amount invested by Wendel
€565m since 2015 (2)
Employees
8,300
No.3 worldwide
No.2 in Europe
Wendel's role in corporate governance
3 Board members
(2) Amount of equity invested by Wendel as of December 31, 2018.
Why did we invest in Constantia Flexibles?
Founded by Herbert Turnauer in the 1960s, the Vienna-based Constantia Flexibles Group produces flexible packaging solutions, for the consumer and pharmaceutical industries. Constantia Flexibles has successfully developed its activities outside Europe and, over the last five years, has become a global leader in flexible packaging. The Group now has c. 8,300 employees in 22 countries.
The flexible packaging market for fast moving consumer goods, in which Constantia Flexibles operates, offers a combination of stability and growth. The business of Constantia Flexibles is largely independent of economic cycles because the Group caters to the daily needs of end consumers. In addition, there are long-term megatrends supporting the growth of the flexible packaging market, such as urbanization and the increased consumption of single portions, tied in with the decreasing size of households and the development of the middle classes, especially in emerging markets. For several years, this market’s growth has outpaced that of the economy in GDP terms, whether in developed or emerging countries.
Key milestones of the investment
-
12.23.2014
Wendel is to acquire Austrian group Constantia Flexibles, a world leader in flexible packaging -
03.02.2015
The H. Turnauer Foundation will invest €240 million alongside Wendel in Constantia Flexibles -
03.27.2015
Completion of the acquisition of Constantia Flexibles -
06.25.2015
Alexander Baumgartner is appointed CEO of Constantia Flexibles -
11.26.2015
Wendel contributes €31 million to a capital increase -
07.17.2017
Constantia Flexibles sells its Labels business to MultiColor -
11.02.2017
Constantia Flexibles completes sale of Labels division to MultiColor
- Wendel is to acquire Austrian group Constantia Flexibles, a world leader in flexible packaging - 229.41 KB - PDF
- The H. Turnauer Foundation will invest €240 million alongside Wendel in Constantia Flexibles - 227.11 KB - PDF
- Completion of the acquisition of Constantia Flexibles - 230.57 KB - PDF
- Alexander Baumgartner is appointed CEO of Constantia Flexibles - 136.69 KB - PDF
- Wendel contributes €31 million to a capital increase - 250.96 KB - PDF
- Constantia Flexibles sells its Labels business to MultiColor - 385.85 KB - PDF
- Constantia Flexibles completes sale of Labels division to MultiColor - 63.17 KB - PDF
Read the press release
On March 27, 2015, Wendel announced it had finalized the acquisition of Constantia Flexibles for an enterprise value of €2.3 billion, or around 9x 2014 EBITDA, and had invested €640 million in equity for a 73% stake in the Company, alongside the AREPO Foundation’s €240 million, 27% investment. Subsequently, on September 22, 2015, Wendel signed an agreement with Maxburg Capital Partners (“MCP”), an investment company backed by the RAG Foundation, to syndicate a minority share of its investment in Constantia Flexibles. Accordingly, in November 2015, MCP acquired approximately 11% of the capital of Constantia Flexibles from Wendel for €101 million.
Following this transaction, Wendel, the AREPO Foundation and MCP participated in a €50 million capital increase for Constantia Flexibles, each subscribing to a pro-rata stake, to finance the acquisitions of Afripack and Pemara.
Following the capital increase and MCP’s entry into the capital of Constantia Flexibles, Wendel’s equity investment in Constantia Flexibles totalled €565 million. Wendel is the Company’s controlling shareholder, with 60.6% of the share capital.
In this fast-growing, resilient, but highly fragmented market, Constantia Flexibles has definite competitive advantages enabling it to play a decisive role in the consolidation of the flexible packaging industry and offering long-term growth potential, such as:
- the Group’s long-standing relationships with major global customers;
- the size of the Group, enabling Constantia Flexibles to harness economies of scale;
- the Group’s technological edge, ability to innovate and robust manufacturing facilities;
- the ability of Constantia Flexibles to pursue an external growth strategy, as demonstrated by the nine acquisitions carried out since 2010, including four in emerging markets. The acquired companies have aggregate sales in the region of €700 million.
Constantia Flexibles sells its stake in Multi-Color
On February 25, 2019, Multi-Color Corporation (NASDAQ: LABL) announced that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by an affiliate of Platinum Equity LLC (“Platinum Equity”), a leading private equity firm. Under the terms of the agreement, which has been unanimously approved by Multi-Color Corporation’s Board of Directors, Multi-Color Corporation shareholders will receive $50 in cash for each share of common stock they own. Constantia Flexibles Holding GmbH which owns approximately 16.6% of Multi-Color Corporation’s outstanding shares, will receive approximately USD 170 million for its shares, pending completion of the deal. At completion, this transaction will give additional financial headroom to Constantia Flexibles and will further reduce its leverage to approximately 1.6x EBITDA.
Outlook for development
In 2017 Constantia Flexibles launched a new strategy for profitable growth named FOCUS21 built on three pillars:
- defending and extending leading positions;
- developing promising positions through investments in different product groups; and
- carrying out targeted acquisitions to support the Group’s geographic expansion, with a focus on India and North America, as well as in the Pharma business in emerging markets.
“We know that Wendel will support the growth strategy and development of Constantia Flexibles over the long term.”
Top management
Alexander Baumgartner
CEO
Wendel's role in corporate governance
Supervisory Board
Bernard Gautier
Roland Lienau
Patrick Tanguy
Nomination Committee
Bernard Gautier
Roland Lienau
Audit Committee
Roland Lienau
Patrick Tanguy