Mondi to acquire Uralplastic; expands its forte in packaging with acquisitions

South Africa’s Mondi Group is to acquire 100% of the outstanding share capital of ZAO Uralplastic-N from Joint Stock Company Rusnano and a private investor. Uralplastic operates one plant near Ekaterinburg, in the Ural region of Russia, and manufactures a range of consumer flexible packaging products for food, hygiene, homecare and other applications. The company serves both local and international customers. For the year ended 31 December 2015 Uralplastic generated revenues of RUB1,988 million (EUR 29.2 million) and adjusted EBITDA of RUB318 million (EUR 4.7 million). Commenting on the acquisition, David Hathorn, Chief executive of Mondi Group, said: “The acquisition of Uralplastic supports the development of our Consumer Packaging business and strengthens our presence in the Russian consumer packaging market, complementing our existing plant in Pereslavl, near Moscow and allowing us to improve our offering to customers in this growing market.” The transaction is expected to complete in July 2016.

In June, Mondi also acquired Turkish consumer packaging firm Kalenobel from Argus Capital, a CEE focused private equity group, and M. Olcay Hephiz, one of the company’s founders, for a consideration of around EUR90 million on a debt-and-cash-free basis (consideration for 90% of the business). Established in 1955, Kalenobel is a Turkish consumer packaging company focused on the manufacture of flexible consumer packaging for ice cream and other applications as well as aseptic cartons. The company is headquartered in Istanbul and operates two manufacturing sites northwest of the city.

Meanwhile, Mondi also completed its 100% acquisition of SIMET S.A., in Poland this year. The corrugated plant, to be called Mondi Simet, is located in Grabonóg in the region of Poznań, Poland. Mondi intends to expand and upgrade this operation to a high-efficiency box plant, including the addition of a corrugator line for on-site board production.

Mondi also acquired South Korea’s KSP, a flexible packaging company specialised in the production of high-quality spouted and retort stand-up pouches for the food, pet food and beverage industries with its main manufacturing site near Seoul, and an interest in a plant near Bangkok, Thailand. KSP exports approximately two thirds of its production, mainly to the US, Europe and other Asian countries. For the twelve months ended 31 December 2014, KSP generated revenues of approximately US$50 million.

Mondi is an international packaging and paper Group, employing around 25,000 people across more than 30 countries. Its key operations are located in central Europe, Russia, North America and South Africa. In 2015, Mondi had revenues of EUR6.8 billion and a return on capital employed of 20.5%.