KPS Capital Partners has entered into an agreement to acquire Anchor Glass Container Corporation from Ardagh Holdings USA. Completion of the transaction is expected during the second or third quarter of 2014.
Anchor Glass is a North American manufacturer of glass packaging products for the beer, liquor, food, beverage, ready-to-drink and consumer end-markets. The company is headquartered in Tampa and employs approximately 2,000 people, with six manufacturing facilities located in Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Minnesota, New York and Oklahoma, in addition to an engineering and spare parts facility in Illinois and a glass mold manufacturing facility in Ohio (www.anchorglass.com).
“Anchor Glass presents a tremendous investment opportunity” said Jay Bernstein, a Partner of KPS. “The company is a leading North American manufacturer of premium glass packaging products with long-standing customer relationships and a widely recognized reputation for product quality, customer service and product innovation. The company is uniquely positioned to supply the rapidly expanding craft beer and premium liquor segments of the glass packaging market.”
KPS Capital Partners is the manager of the KPS Special Situations Funds, a group of private equity funds with over $6 billion of committed capital focused on investing in restructurings, turnarounds and other special situations. The KPS investment strategy targets manufacturing and industrial companies with strong market positions that are going through a period of transition or experiencing operating or financial difficulties. The firm’s portfolio companies have aggregate annual revenues of approximately $7 billion, operate 93 manufacturing plants in 26 countries, and employ over 37,000 associates worldwide. KPS Capital Partners is headquartered in New York (www.kpsfund.com).
“Our investment in Anchor Glass is the first step in creating a thriving enterprise in the glass packaging industry, and we intend to aggressively grow the Anchor Glass platform both organically and through acquisitions on a global scale. We look forward to working with Chief Executive Officer Jim Fredlake and all of Anchor Glass’ employees to catalyze the next phase of Anchor Glass’ growth,” said Mr. Bernstein.
Financing for the transaction will be provided by a syndicate of banks and institutional investors with UBS Investment Bank and RBC Capital Markets acting as Lead Arrangers.
© 2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 4-15-14
