Johannesburg - Local paper firm Mondi yesterday agreed to buy 90 percent of shares in Turkey’s Kalenobel for e90 million (R1.56 billion) on a debt-and-cash-free basis as it ramped up its consumer packaging footprint.
Mondi, which is listed in London, would buy the stake from from private equity group Argus Capital and one of Kalenobel’s founders M Olcay Hephiz. The transaction remained subject to competition clearance and other customary-closing conditions and was expected to be completed during the second half of this year, Mondi said.
Read: Mondi in R1.5bn Turkish deal
Chief executive David Hathorn said yesterday that the Kalenobel acquisition would help the group to penetrate the Turkish consumer packaging markets.
In Mondi’s annual results presentation in February, Hathorn said acquisition-led growth remained a key component of its strategy and it would continue to evaluate opportunities as they arose.
During the year, consumer packaging was boosted by total acquisitions of e94m. Kalenobel, established in 1955, is a consumer packaging company focused on the manufacturing of flexible consumer packaging including ice cream and aseptic cartons. The company exported half of its production, mainly to Western Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, it said.
Daniel Isaacs, at analyst at 36ONE Asset Management, said: “It is not a big acquisition but it fits in nicely with their consumer packaging business. “Part of Mondi’s strategy with their very strong balance sheet is to acquire decent businesses with relatively high barriers to entry.”
Mondi share fell 0.34 percent yesterday to R295.90.
BUSINESS REPORT