On March 8, Berry Global Group Inc., an American plastics manufacturer, announced that it would buy all of RPC's issued and upcoming common shares at 793 pence a share. The total purchase price is expected to reach 5 billion ($6.5 billion), which includes refinancing of RPC's net liabilities.
At the end of January, RPC Group, a British plastics manufacturer, said it would sell it to Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm. Berry's purchase of RPC shares averaged 793 pence a share, 1.4% higher than Apollo's offer. The transaction meets the usual terms and is expected to be completed in the early third quarter of 2019.
Berry will pay 793 pence a share for all the common shares issued and to be issued by RPC Group. Including RPC debt, the deal was worth $6.5 billion (5.77 billion).
Berry plans to finance the acquisition by issuing bonds. It also intends to use the consolidated business to enhance cash flow to quickly reduce leverage. Berry estimates that the acquisition transaction will have an annual cost synergy of about $150 million.
Berry and RPC are both companies offering plastic products, with high degree of business synergy and deep cultural compatibility. Before the acquisition, Berry's expected sales this year will reach 8.1 billion US dollars (7.2 billion Euros), plus annual sales of RPC 4.8 billion US dollars (4.2 billion Euros), and the combined company's annual sales are expected to reach 13 billion US dollars, with 48,000 employees on six continents worldwide.
RPC provides plastic and recyclable products for packaging and specific non-packaging markets, focusing on hard and soft collars. RPC has 153 manufacturing plants in 33 countries with nearly 25,000 employees. In the past 12 months up to September 30, 2018, RPC Group's net sales amounted to $4.8 billion and adjusted pre-tax profits amounted to $768 million.