8th Mar 2019 07:48
LONDON (Alliance News) - Plastics firm RPC Group PLC has decided to push forward with Berry Global Group Inc's offer for the company, it said on Friday.
At the same time, FTSE 250-listed RPC has withdrawn its recommendation shareholders accept Apollo Management IX LP's offer.
Plastics firm RPC has agreed a 793 pence per share deal with US-based Berry Global, having previously agreed a 782p deal with Apollo. RPC shares closed at 796.41p on Thursday.
The deals would value RPC at approximately GBP3.34 billion and GBP3.32 billion respectively.
Berry, in its own statement Friday, said the deal is a 16% premium to RPC's closing price of 683.6p on September 7 last year, the last trading day before a first offer was made.
RPC Chair Jamie Pike commented: "The board of RPC is pleased to recommend Berry's cash offer for the group which is at an 11p per share premium to the Apollo proposal and provides shareholders with significant value in cash for their shares.
"The combination of RPC and Berry would create a leading global plastics products design and engineering company and represents a strong strategic fit. Both companies are highly complementary in terms of product portfolio, customer base, polymer conversion technologies and geographic footprint."
Berry Chief Executive & Chair Tom Salmon added: "We are extremely excited to welcome the deep and experienced RPC team, along with their differentiated global platform, to the Berry organization.
"This transformational combination will create a strong global leader in plastic packaging and recycled solutions that enhances our organic and inorganic growth opportunities moving forward. We believe this transaction enhances the long-term outlook for our business and provides a unique value creation opportunity for our shareholders."
"We plan to leverage our combined know-how in material science, product development and manufacturing technologies across resin-based applications to integrate quickly and build a best-in-class organization for all stakeholders," he added.
Apollo released its own statement Friday, without acknowledging RPC's acceptance of Berry's offer, saying South African competition regulators have cleared its own offer.
Berry said its agreed offer requires the same approvals as Apollo's, but it does not see any problems.
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