BC Partners signs deal to buy Keter Plastic

Sami Sagol
Sami Sagol

BC Partners says it will maintain the Israeli company's growth strategy.

Keter Plastic today signed an agreement for the purchase of 80% of the company by investment fund BC Partners. The Sagol family will continue to own 20% of the company. Closure of the deal, which requires the usual approval, is slated for the fourth quarter of this year. No financial details were disclosed but the acquisition is believed to be at a company value of $1.3 billion.

Keter Plastic's 2015 sales totaled €800 million, and the company's annual growth has exceeded 10% in recent years. 50% of the group's revenue comes from new products launched in the past three years.

BC Partners managing partner Jean-Batiste Wautier said, "This is the first direct investment in Israel, and our largest there. We have found Keter Plastic and Israel to be fertile ground for business creativity and daring, and a great business opportunity for us. Keter Plastic is an innovative, prosperous, and rapidly growing company. It has extraordinary competitive capabilities and a unique organizational culture. We are excited about Keter Plastic's business opportunities, and expect to go forward with Sami and Yitzhak Sagol's ambitious growth strategy sparked by investments, marketing and sales, product innovation, excellence, and selective acquisitions."

Keter Plastic founder Sami Sagol said, "The deal constitutes a vote of confidence in the enormous potential of Keter Plastic and the Israeli economy, even at a time of international volatility. A year ago, we began discussions with 11 investment groups from all over the world, all of which expressed interest in Keter Plastic. Today, I am glad to have signed the agreement with BC Partners. I am convinced that the partnership with the fund and the utilization of its managerial and strategic assets will enable us to speed up Keter Plastic's transformation from an international company into a global company in the full sense of the term.

"Keter is our life's work, and the workers are one of its most important assets. I want to especially note the senior management team that has accompanied us for many years, and which has been a real partner at all times. Our new partners appreciate Keter Plastic's uniqueness, the superb personnel we employ in technology, operations, and design, and the extraordinary achievements we have attained as leaders of the global plastics industry. We foresee a brilliant future for Keter Plastic with the help of entrepreneurship, innovation and business development, which will ensure business continuity and the key role of business in Israel. Retaining part of the company will enable us to contribute to the company's future business growth and value.

"We have found BC Partners to be a loyal partner in our outlook, and an ideal ally. The fund has an impressive record of business development in family ownership, and is known for helping companies in which it invests realize their full potential. Its managers share our vision, and are committed to promoting Keter Plastic's organizational culture and core values."

Keter Plastic develops, manufactures, and distributes throughout the world a broad range of plastic consumer products. It is regarded as an innovative global leader in the production of plastic products for the home and garden using the do-it-yourself method.

The group has over 25,000 sales points around the world, 18 manufacturing plants, and two distribution centers spread over nine countries. It enjoys strong ties with retailers in all the markets in which it operates. The company has 4,000 workers, including nearly 2,000 in Israel, and its products are sold in 100 countries.

Keter Plastics was founded in 1948 in Jaffa as a factory for making toys and household utensils, with Joseph Sagol being among its founders. Sami and Yitzhak Sagol, his sons, have managed the company since the early 1980s.

BC Partners is a leading international private fund that manages over €12 billion in assets. Founded in 1986, the fund has played an active role in the buyout market in Europe for nearly three decades. Since it was founded, the fund has completed 91 investments in companies with an aggregate value of nearly €100 billion. BC Partners is investing at the present in its ninth fund, for which it raised €6.7billion in commitments in 2011.

Keter Plastics' consultants for the deal were Rothschild Bank, White & Case, and Ernst & Young. BC Partners was advised by UBS, JP Morgan, Linklaters, and Ernst & Young.

BC Partners was represented in Israel by Advs. Mike Rimon, Talya Gerstler and Keren Shitrit, partners at Meitar Liquornik Geva Leshem Tal & Co law firm and Linklater London.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 28, 2016

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2016

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