Highlander Partners Announces the Completion of its Sale of the Akomex Group
April 2, 2020 – Warsaw, Poland | Highlander Partners, L.P. (“Highlander”), a leading middle market private investment firm based in Dallas, Texas, with offices in Central Europe, today completed the previously announced sale of its portfolio company Akomex Group (“Akomex” or the “Company”), to Sebastian Śliwa, the co-founder of Akomex, jointly with the management and with support from AMC Capital IV S.c.Sp., a fund advised by Mezzanine Management.
Headquartered in Poland, Akomex is one of the leading manufacturers of packaging in Central Europe, specializing in high-quality solid cardboard, leaflets, labels, trays and laminated sheets for the pharmaceutical, food, electronics, technology, personal care and home appliance sectors. Akomex, founded in 1993, maintains two manufacturing operations in Poland and one converting operation in Denmark, producing over 1.8 billion items per year.
Highlander acquired controlling interest in Akomex in 2010, undertaking a significant capacity expansion through new facilities and state-of-the-art production equipment in Starogard Gdanski, Poland. In 2014, Akomex acquired Druk Pak, located in Aleksandrów Kujawski, Poland, to further diversify its offerings into pharmaceutical packaging. This acquisition was followed by the acquisition of Danish packaging producer, Planopack of Herning, Denmark, in 2018. The combination of these three companies created one of the largest packaging companies in Central Europe, serving many of the world’s leading food and pharmaceutical producers.
“We are very pleased to complete this transaction and happy that Sebastian is able to once again become the majority shareholder. We have been a very patient investor, owning Akomex for over nine years, and invested heavily in the company during our ownership period, including two significant add-on acquisitions. It is very satisfying to see such an outstanding outcome,” stated Jeff L. Hull, President and CEO of Highlander.
“We are very pleased with the job that Grzegorz Łajca, President and CEO of Akomex Group, and his team have done in making Akomex a leader in Central Europe, and we wish them and Sebastian the best as they continue to grow the company,” added Artur Dzagarow, Managing Partner of the Highlander Partners Central Europe – Poland office.
Rothschild and Co. (Rothschild Polska Sp. z o.o. – www.rothschildandco.com) acted as exclusive financial advisor to Highlander, and GESSEL (www.gessel.pl) served as Highlander’s legal adviser.
CIC Corporate Finance (www.cic.pl) acted as a transaction adviser to Sebastian Śliwa and Mezzanine Management. Baker & McKenzie (www.bakermckenzie.com) and Norton Rose (www.nortonrosefulbright.com) acted as legal advisers.
Additionally EY performed due-diligence analysis.
About Highlander Partners
Highlander Partners, L.P. is a Dallas-based private investment firm with over $2 billion of assets under management. The firm focuses on making investments in businesses in targeted industries in which the principals of the firm have significant operating and investing experience, including basic manufacturing, food, chemicals, building materials, consumer products, and others. Highlander Partners uses a “buy and build” investment approach, creating value by helping companies grow organically and through acquisitions. For more information, visit www.highlander-partners.com.
About Mezzanine Management
Mezzanine Management is currently investing from Accession Mezzanine Capital IV, which closed in 2018 on €264 million and is the firm’s largest vehicle to-date. Mezzanine Management is the exclusive advisor to the Accession Mezzanine Capital group of funds, whose total investments exceed €700m. Since 2000, Mezzanine Management has been operating in Central and Eastern Europe through its offices in Vienna, Warsaw, Bucharest, Budapest and Prague. The funds’ investment portfolio is diverse, with more than 50 transactions across 12 countries in CEE. The funds are backed by reputable institutional investors, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Fund and a number of banks, funds of funds, pension funds and insurance companies. For more information, visit www.mezzmanagement.com