The divestment is in tandem with and is a major part of the company’s strategy to focus on new acquisitions and the growth CapEx.
August 05, 2021
The Mayr-Melnhof Group and a subsidiary of funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. have reached a firm intention on the sale of MM’s virgin fiber cartonboard mills located in Eerbeek, Netherlands, and Baiersbronn, Germany, to Oaktree for an equity value of around USD 124 million (EUR 104.6 million) and net debt subject to final closing accounts.
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Eerbeek and Baiersbronn together have an annual capacity of about 245kt of virgin fiber cartonboard (FBB) produced on two board machines and employ approximately 400 people. Sales reached EUR 195 million in 2020.
The divestment is in line with and is a key part of MM Group’s strategy to focus on new acquisitions and the growth CapEx.
“We are pleased that our Eerbeek and Baiersbronn mills are to get a new owner who plans to invest in their future business development. We especially thank the entire personnel for their great work during the past three decades with MM. The sale provides MM with an opportunity to realize significant cash proceeds for its further growth course,” comments MM Group CEO, Peter Oswald.
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MM will engage in a consultation process with the employee representatives and expects the transaction to close in the third quarter of 2021.
“We are delighted to acquire the two virgin fiber cartonboard mills, in which we will invest additional capital to strengthen the plants. Over the years we have successfully invested in multiple packaging assets in Europe and believe that the FBB market offers attractive future growth and innovation opportunities”, says Hermann T. Dambach, Managing Director, European Principal Group, Oaktree.
