CHARLOTTE, NC -- AVINTIV Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement for Berry Plastics Group, Inc. to acquire AVINTIV from private equity funds managed by The Blackstone Group LP for approximately $2.45 billion in cash on a debt-free, cash-free basis.
Berry Plastics Group is a leading provider of value-added plastic consumer packaging and engineered materials delivering high-quality customized solutions to our customers with annual net sales of $5.0 billion in fiscal 2014. With world headquarters in Evansville, Indiana, the Company's common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BERY.
"We are extremely excited to welcome the team and global capabilities of AVINTIV to the Berry organization," said Jon Rich, Chairman and CEO of Berry Plastics. "The combination of Berry Plastics and AVINTIV creates a global leader in plastics packaging and engineered specialty materials with enhanced technology, material and commercial capabilities to more broadly serve our customers."
Joel Hackney, AVINTIV's Chief Executive Officer, commented, "AVINTIV has made tremendous progress advancing our mission to create a safer, cleaner, and healthier world. Joining Berry creates an ideal platform to expand into new adjacencies, strengthen our current capabilities, and bring new innovations to our customers. Our employees' hard work and dedication has enabled us to deliver consistent growth and margin expansion and will continue to play a critical role in the success of Berry."
The proposed transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close by the end of calendar year 2015.
Berry Plastics has secured committed debt financing to fund the transaction and expects to utilize the strong, recession-resistant free cash flow of the combined business to reduce leverage following the transaction. Additionally, subject to market conditions, Berry will consider raising a modest amount of equity to result in a net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio of approximately 5 times.
Credit Suisse and Barclays acted as financial advisors and Bryan Cave acted as legal advisor for Berry Plastics. Citi and BofA Merrill Lynch acted as financial advisors and Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett LLP acted as legal advisor for AVINTIV and Blackstone.
For more details, visit:
http://www.avintiv.com
http://www.berryplastics.com