Saint-Gobain has entered into exclusive talks with private equity firm Apollo Global Management to divest its glass-packaging unit Verallia in a $3.3bn deal.
This comes after the company received a purchase offer from Apollo, as part of a competitive bidding process.
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Apollo was in talks with Banque Publique d’Investissement (BPI) about BPI’s potential acquisition of a minority stake in Verallia.
As reported in Reuters, Bpifrance now confirms plans to acquire 10% stake in Verallia.
Verallia employs 10,000 people and operates 47 manufacturing plants in 13 countries.
Headquartered in France, Verallia manufactures and supplies glass bottles and jars for the food and beverage industries worldwide. It also manufactures a range of stock containers.
Verallia generated €2.435bn in annual sales for 2013.
Saint-Gobain chairman and CEO Pierre-André de Chalendar said: "The sale of Verallia would complete Saint-Gobain’s strategic refocus on the design, manufacture and distribution of innovative, high-performance solutions for the habitat and industrial markets, on which the Group continues to develop."
The completion of the transaction is subject to the approval of certain competition authorities, including the European Commission.
Apollo operating executive Jean-Luc Allavena said: "We are extremely excited to be acquiring Verallia, which is an outstanding franchise and one of the world’s leading packaging companies.
"We look forward to partnering with management and its tremendous employee base to support the continued growth and innovation of Verallia."
Image: Verallia manufactures and supplies glass bottles and jars for the food and beverage industries. Photo: courtesy of Verallia.
