On publication of RPC’s (RPC) half-year figures at the beginning of December, we ventured that the “diversified plastics product group remains in an acquisitive mode”. Sure enough, shareholders didn’t have to wait long on that score. The group announced that it was buying ESE World BV from private equity firm Stirling Square Capital Partners for €262.5m (£220m). The acquisition is expected to generate additional revenues of €200m.
RPC is intent on scaling-up operations in a marketplace that’s undergoing a consolidation phase. The group posted a 53 per cent increase in revenues at the half-year mark on the back of a series of acquisitions. In March of this year, it was given assent from the European Commission to complete a €650m deal to acquire Global Closure Systems, a French plastic closures and dispensing systems specialist. Three months later, it forked out another £261m to bring British Polythene Industries within the fold. The Renfrewshire-based company is one of Europe's largest recyclers of waste polythene films.
