Japan Pulp and Paper in bid to buy Inapa in France for €25 million
Japan Pulp and Paper has made an offer to buy Inapa France for €25 million.
In the proposal, which was made to the insolvency manager, the company wants to indirectly acquire 100% of JJ LOOS, paving the way to include Portugal in its Shared Services Centre and transition brands.
“Japan Pulp and Paper Co., Ltd (JPP) presented on September 24 a new binding proposal for the acquisition by a company of the JPP group to Inapa IPG of the shares representing 100% of the share capital of the company under French law Inapa France”, reads the amendment to the insolvency administrator’s report published this Wednesday by the Portuguese securities market regulator CMVM.”
The company, “indirectly”, also intends to acquire “100% of the capital stock of JJ LOOS (and, if the acquisition perimeter is insufficient to qualify for the next stage of the potential transaction, JPP may consider including Portugal, the Shared Services Center and brands in the perimeter of the transaction, subject to due diligence in satisfactory terms)”.
The offer of €25 million is based on an enterprise value of €73.1 million, which “is higher than the other proposals received for the same assets”. But “this proposal does not contend with the perimeter of the transaction proposed by Next Pack S.A.S.”, which has offered €20 million for the packaging business in France.
Portuguese paper distribution company Inapa, ran out of money in July after a €12 million cashflow problem at its German subsidiary, and declared insolvency.
The company’s CEO, Frederico Lupi announced his resignation and the board resigned after announcing insolvency.
The company’s board tried to fund a solution with its creditors and shareholders, in particular the Portuguese public company Parpública that held around 45% of Inapa’s capital, but was not able to resolve the lack of cashflow.
Founded in 1965, the Inapa Group has almost 1,500 employees and operates in 10 countries. Its main shareholders are Parpública, with 44.89%, Nova Expressão, with 10%, and Novo Banco with 6.55%.
The company suffered losses of €8 million in 2023, compared to profits of €17.8 million in 2022 according to the company’s financial results, but sales fell 20% that year to €968.7 million.
