The Europac Group (Papeles y Cartones de Europa S.A.) has purchased two companies that collectively own a comprehensive packaging plant in Lucena, Spain. The operation cost Euro 9.8 million, company value, representing a post merger value of 5.5 times EBITDA for Europac.
Up until now, shares in the business were distributed among ICOA (Industrias Cartones Ondulados Andaluces S.L.) and OASA (Ondulados Andaluces, S.A.), two companies dedicated to manufacturing corrugated cardboard and using cardboard for packaging.
The new facility, which will now be called Europac Packaging Lucena, turned over Euro 7.6 million and generated an EBITDA of Euro 1.2 million at the end of 2016, which represents an EBITDA margin of 15.8%.
At the moment, the plant has one corrugator and three converters to turn cardboard into boxes, in a 15,000 m2 warehouse, within a 42,000 m2 plot of land. Last year it used 7,000 tonnes of paper and produced 16 million m2 of cardboard and packaging.
The Europac Group will carry out a Euro 10 million investment plan with the aim of increasing production, purchasing new assets, optimising the current assets and expanding the installations. It is expected that during the investment period, 25 direct new jobs will be created.
José Miguel Isidro, executive chairman of Europac, says: “The purchase of the Lucena plant is the result of our long-term project to expand in the packaging sector and fulfil the commercial strategy of the Packaging Division in Spain, where the company does not yet have the position it deserves”.
