Fortaleza Capital acted as exclusive corporate finance adviser to LIVIA Group on the acquisition of the Baden Board & Packaging facility from Smurfit Kappa

About Smurfit Kappa Baden Board & Packaging: The Baden Board & Packagingfacility, which turns over c. €100 million annually and has 298 employees, is located in Gernsbach in Southwest Germany and comprises both a mill and a board conversion plant. The mill produces recycled carton board and the conversion plant manufactures folding board boxes. The white line chipboard commodity grade produced is not a core paper grade for Smurfit Kappa and this has been a key factor in the decision to sell the site.

The Baden mill produces 152,000 tonnes of board per annum which is used to create primary packaging for a variety of products and the conversion facility converts 64 million square meters of board annually.

“We are delighted to have closed this deal. The two Smurfit Kappa Baden plants fit our investment focus very well, as they will require a partner to support the successful implementation of sustainable growth and optimization strategies. Together with the dedicated workforce we will further develop existing customer relationships and focus on new business opportunities in the board and packaging market.“ states Prof. Dr. Dr. Peter Löw, founder and owner of LIVIA Group.

In addition to continuing the carton production and conversion activities of Smurfit Kappa Baden Board GmbH on a stand-alone basis, the company will focus on expanding its strong market position. LIVIA can count on the support of the current management and will further strengthen the team in strategic areas such as sourcing, marketing and sales. This will also include recruitment of new employees, a staff reduction is not planned.

About LIVIA Group: LIVIA Group is an independent industrial holding as well as the private investment enterprise of Prof. Dr. Dr. Peter Löw, with funds under management of more than €750 million. LIVIA invests in a diverse spectrum of assets, ranging from corporate, agricultural and opportunistic investments to real estate, emerging markets, and fine arts & antiques. More than 250 executed transactions has made LIVIA’s management a preferred and trusted partner of international corporations and financial institutions.

LIVIA Corporate Development is specialized in acquiring European corporate spin-offs/ carve-outs as well as midsized companies with revenues between €20 million and €1.5 billion. The focus is on business transformations and acquisitions of underperforming companies with operational improvement potential as well as add-on acquisitions for existing platform investments to realize synergies.

The press release can be found here (English and German).

About Smurfit Kappa: Smurfit Kappa, a FTSE 100 company, is one of the leading providers of paper-based packaging solutions in the world, with around 46,000 employees in approximately 370 production sites across 35 countries and with revenue of €8.6 billion in 2017. The company is located in 22 countries in Europe, 13 in the Americas and is the only large-scale pan-regional player in Latin America.