Navigator Paper UK has launched a public all-cash firm offer for the acquisition of UK-based tissue paper converter Accrol Group Holdings.
Accrol converts and supplies toilet tissues, kitchen rolls, facial tissues, and wet wipes to UK-based discounters and grocery retailers.
Its proposed acquisition would reinforce Portugal-headquartered Navigator’s market positioning in the Western European tissue market, which Navigator said it anticipates would result in a consolidated turnover of £500m, with the UK market contributing around 50% of Navigator’s total tissue turnover.
In the year ended 30 April 2023, Accrol posted revenues of £242m and adjusted EBITDA of £15.6m.
For the half-year ending 31 October 2023, Accrol had revenues of £100.3m and adjusted EBITDA of £10.2m.
Navigator Paper UK is a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of the Navigator Company, a Portuguese integrated pulp, paper, tissue, packaging, and biomass-based energy company.
In the financial year ended 31 December 2023, Navigator reported consolidated revenues of €1,953m and consolidated EBITDA of €502m.
It diversified and entered the tissue market in 2014 and now produces tissue paper parent reels on a large industrial scale with direct integration of pulp into tissue production.
It also has converting facilities at sites across Western Europe and the UK which serve the At-Home and AfH markets.
Navigator acquired AMS Star Paper in 2015, and invested in a greenfield tissue paper production plant in the Aveiro district of Portugal in 2018.
In 2023, it acquired the tissue consumer business of Spanish Gomà-Camps group and its Zaragoza industrial site.
It now has a total production capacity of 165,000 tons of tissue paper and 180,000 tonnes of tissue converting capacity per year, generating approximately €293m of annual revenue in 2023.
The company said Accrol “is a key pillar” in its strategy of sustained expansion of its tissue business in the Western European market.
It will focus on building on Accrol’s market position in the UK tissue private label market and supporting its growth across all its core product segments.
It added: “Combining Accrol’s industrial sites, personnel, and client commercial relationships into the Navigator Group has the potential to enhance its performance for the benefit of customers, employees and stakeholders.”
The acquisition of Accrol by Navigator Paper UK is subject to terms and conditions.
