Fortaleza Capital acted as exclusive corporate finance adviser to P. Van De Velde Group on the acquisition of Koninklijke Schut (Royal Schut)

About Koninklijke Schut: Koninklijke (Royal) Schut N.V., established in 1886, has grown from a small family-run business to a sizeable and reputable player with a firm market position in the packaging industry. Koninklijke Schut operates through two subsidiaries: Schut Packaging and Schut Systems. Schut Packaging creates added value for customers in the food and non-food sectors with the smartest packaging solutions – from folding carton to folding plastic or any combination of these materials. Schut Systems supplies machines for setting-up, filling and closing carton boxes and trays as well as machines for applying carton sleeves. Koninklijke Schut adds 100 employees, 10,000 tons of packaging and more than €20 million in turnover to P. Van De Velde Group.

About P. Van De Velde Group: P. Van De Velde Group is a family-owned business with a long-term growth strategy and an expansionary investment policy. Businesses within the group are led with considerable autonomy and space for local entrepreneurship while also benefiting from the support of centralised services. P. Van De Velde Group processes some 40,000 tonnes of packaging annually. Van De Velde Packaging is the folding carton business unit of P. Van De Velde Group and has activities in Lichtervelde (Belgium), Kruishoutem (Belgium) and Poznan (Poland). The folding carton packaging produced is mainly sold to the food, beverage and healthcare sectors. In addition, P. Van De Velde produces solid board packaging at its plant in Wetteren (Belgium).

Set for Further Growth: Due to the complementary portfolios, the acquisition of Koninklijke Schut strengthens Van De Velde Packaging’s position in Europe, especially within the Dutch market. Importantly, it offers the group new opportunities to embrace the market shift toward folding carton packaging and folding plastic packaging. Jos Hoogendijk, general manager of Koninklijke Schut on the transaction: “I’m very enthusiastic about the opportunities that this will provide to our company. The international client portfolio and the ambitions of P. Van De Velde Group will enable us to achieve our growth objectives.” Koninklijke Schut’s two production facilities will continue to operate in the present form and at the same locations in Eerbeek (The Netherlands). Schut’s current management team will remain responsible for daily business operations. The press release can be found here (English) and here (Dutch).