The highly respected American private equity firm, Madison Dearborn Partners, is progressing with its proposed plan to divest its controlling interests in IPL Plastics, a packaging firm based in Ireland. This transaction is predicted to appraise the company as much as $1.5 billion or approximately €1.35 billion. The prominent Canadian asset manager, Brookfield, was identified by the well-known deals publication, Debtwire, as one of those who have tendered bids during the second running for the business. The company has been successfully guided by CEO Alan Walsh for the duration of the previous 13 years.
In 2020, Madison Dearborn took control of IPL Plastics from the Toronto stock exchange, investing in it for an enterprise value of approximately $736 million. Since then, it has financially assisted the business in accomplishing subsequent transactions. The company appointed investment bankers from Evercore and BMO this year to preside over the sale proceedings. An IPL Plastics representative, however, refused to comment on the scheme.
Before gaining its current identity, IPL Plastics was popularly called One51. Founded in 2005 as a spin-off from the food and agri firm IAWS (currently known as Aryzta), it initially held various assets that encompassed an investment in infrastructural entity NTR and Irish Pride Bakers.
In his tenure, Mr Walsh has devoted the first six years unravelling an assortment of investments held by the group, comprising of a substantial investment in Irish Continental Group, a ferries operations company. The aim was to streamline the company’s focus as a dedicated rigid plastics enterprise.
IPL Plastics, previously One51, held an initial public offering in Canada in 2018. Two years later, the company was sold to Madison Dearborn resulting in the departure of its initial Irish investors, which included dairy cooperatives and high-net-worth individuals.
Nevertheless, in the Madison Dearborn transaction in 2020, the significant shareholder, Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec, retained almost 25 percentage points of its 27 per cent shares.
Reports indicate that IPL Plastics, previously a publicly traded company, rose its annual BEFORE-TAX earnings from $91.5 million in 2019 to about $160 million this year. The company’s proprietors, Madison Dearborn, were said to fund a $50 million annual capital expenditure plan and several acquisitions. Among these acquisitions are Leaktite, a prominent US retailer of manufacturing and distributing buckets; Coral Products and Interpack Limited, producers and distributors of plastic and blow-molded items; and Bright Green Plastics, a plastic recycling company from the UK.