Paper Solutions
Navigator Paper UK Limited has announced it has launched a public all-cash firm offer to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Accrol Group Holdings plc.
Accrol is a leading tissue converter and supplier of toilet tissues, kitchen rolls, facial tissues, and wet wipes to many of the UK's leading discounters and grocery retailers across the UK.
The board of directors of Accrol is recommending the offer, which is subject to the conditions and specific further terms set out in the corresponding announcement issued in accordance with Rule 2.7 of the UK City Code on Takeovers and Mergers, and to the full terms and conditions that will be set out in a subsequent document setting out the full terms and conditions of the proposed scheme of arrangement to implement the offer.
Navigator Paper UK Limited is a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of The Navigator Company, SA. Navigator is a large Portuguese integrated pulp, paper, tissue, packaging and biomass based energy company, listed on the Euronext Lisbon Stock Exchange.
The Navigator Company is a leader in the production of fine printing and writing paper, processing more than 1.6 million tonnes of paper per year. Furthermore, it is one of the largest producers of eucalyptus pulp (BEKP), with around 1.6 million tonnes per year.
In 2014 Navigator made the strategic decision to enter the tissue market, based on a business model comprising: the production of tissue paper parent reels on a large industrial scale with direct integration of pulp into tissue production; converting facilities located in Navigator's core consumer markets of Western Europe and the UK; and serving both at home and away from home client segments.
In 2015, it acquired AMS Star Paper, which currently has the capacity to produce around 60,000 tonnes per annum of high quality tissue paper and corresponding converting capacity.
In 2018, it invested in a large scale, greenfield tissue paper production plant at its industrial complex located in the Aveiro district, Portugal, which it integrated with its pulp mill and which now has tissue paper capacity of 70,000 tonnes per year and 55,000 tonnes of converting capacity.
In 2023, it acquired the tissue consumer business of Spanish Gomà-Camps group as well as its industrial site located in the region of Zaragoza, which has a tissue paper production capacity of 35,000 tonnes and 55,000 tonnes of tissue converting capacity.
The Navigator Company now has a total production capacity of 165,000 tonnes of tissue paper and 180,000 tonnes of tissue converting capacity per year generating approximately €293 million of annual revenue in 2023.
The proposed acquisition of Accrol will reinforce Navigator’s market positioning in the Western European tissue market.
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