Polymer banknote maker bought by Canadian firm in £680m deal
CUMBRIA-based Innovia, which makes most of the world’s polymer banknotes including the new £5 note, has been acquired by Canadian firm CCL Industries for £680m.
The Wigton company – which was owned by a group of UK private equity investors – hit headlines recently when it emerged the new £5 note contains a small amount of tallow, derived from animal waste products, sparking a 132,000-name petition to ban it.
The Bank of England has said that Innovia was working on “potential solutions” to the animal fat issue.
CCL Industries, which specialises in label and package making, said buying Innovia would make it “a world leader” in the polymer banknote market.
Innovia chief executive Mark Robertshaw said CCL would be “an excellent long-term owner” and there was a good fit between the two firms.
The petition to ban the new £5 note, hosted on the Change.org website, calls on the Bank of England to “cease to use animal products in the production of currency that we have to use”.
It states that tallow is “unacceptable to millions of vegans, vegetarians, Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and others in the UK”.
A number of Sikh and Hindus have also urged the notes be banned from temples, where meat products are forbidden.
Hindus believe cows are holy and sacred, and many do not wear shoes or carry bags made from the skin of cattle that has been slaughtered. Sikhs are strict vegetarians.
A team from Addleshaw Goddard, led by Shelley McGivern and Richard Lee advised CCL on the deal.
