Grant Thornton in Birmingham advises on £253m plastics deal
DEALMAKERS from the Birmingham office of accountancy and advisory firm Grant Thornton were involved in the deal which saw rigid plastic packaging supplier RPC Group buy Chinese injection moulding group ACE Corporation for up to US$430m (£253m).
Manufacturing specialists at Grant Thornton advised Northants-based plc RPC Group on the deal.
RPC is one of the world’s leading suppliers of rigid plastics packaging, developing and manufacturing a diverse range of packs for a wide variety of customers, including many household names such as Dulux and Heinz, across a large number of market sectors.
The company today has more than 50 operations in 18 countries and employs around 8,000 people, with annual sales in excess of £1.1bn.
ACE Corporation was formed in 1988 and is a manufacturer of plastic injection moulded components and injection moulding tools for the packaging, lifestyle, medical, power and automotive markets.
With its headquarters in Hong Kong, ACE has factories in Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shanghai and Hefei, offices in the US and the UK and more than 3,000 employees.
Grant Thornton’s advisory team, led by director Neil Barrell and assisted by Naomi Horsfall, was appointed by RPC to assess ACE Corporation’s five manufacturing facilities in China. Their work included analysing the operations of ACE, reviewing customer relationships and synergy opportunities.
Barrell said: “The acquisition of ACE provides RPC with an ideal footprint in the Chinese market and is a key step in the delivery of the company’s Vision 20/20 strategy.
“This project complements other projects that we are doing with RPC and we look forward to continuing to support them in the future.”
RPC Group finance director Simon Kesterton said: “This is a strategically important move into the Asian market for RPC and we are extremely pleased with the work from the Grant Thornton team to help get this deal completed.”
