Accrol, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, converts tissues and supplies toilet tissues, kitchen rolls, facial tissues, and wet wipes to various UK discounters and grocery retailers
Navigator offers to take over UK-based Accrol. (Credit: Diana Polekhina on Unsplash)
Navigator Paper UK and Accrol Group have reached an agreement under which the former will take over the UK-based tissue paper converter in a deal worth around £127.5m.
Accrol, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, converts tissues and supplies toilet tissues, kitchen rolls, facial tissues, and wet wipes to various UK discounters and grocery retailers.
Navigator Paper UK, a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of fine printing and writing paper producer Navigator. The former is offering 38p in cash per share for Accrol’s shareholders.
The consideration is a premium of around 11.8% to the closing price per Accrol’s share of 34p on 21 March 2024.
Accrol reported revenues of £242m, adjusted EBITDA of £15.6m, and net debt of £26.8m for the year ended on 30 April 2023.
Navigator CEO António Redondo said: “The prospective acquisition of Accrol, a renowned tissue manufacturer based in the UK, marks a pivotal moment for Navigator, as we expand our commercial footprint to the UK tissue market.
“The proposed acquisition is perfectly aligned with our long-term growth strategy for the tissue business and underscores our unwavering commitment to driving innovation, sustainable growth, and operational excellence at Navigator.”
Navigator, which is based in Portugal, regards Accrol as part of its strategy for the growth of its tissue business in the Western Europe markets.
In the UK tissue private label market, Navigator plans to concentrate on strengthening Accrol’s standing as a reliable reference player and fostering its expansion in all its core product categories.
Navigator anticipates that the tissue converter will gain from its knowledge and experience running comparable tissue operations, which will boost production and efficiency.
The acquisition is expected to create a combined business with around £500m in annual revenues.
Accrol CEO Gareth Jenkins said: “Combining with the Navigator Group brings together a highly complementary product offering. It will enable Accrol to benefit from the capabilities, scale, network and resources of Navigator, building on the strategic progress we have made to date.”