IPL, the Dublin-based maker of rigid-plastic products, said on Wednesday that it is merging with Dutch peer Schoeller Allibert to create a group with annual sales of over $1.4 billion (€1.2 billion).
Shareholders in the Irish company, which is controlled US private equity giant Madison Dearborn Partners, will own 55 per cent the combined entity. Investors in Schoeller Allibert, which is owned by Canadian investment group Brookfield, will take the rest.
A spokesman for IPL declined to comment on the value of the deal.
Madison Dearborn, which acquired IPL Plastics off the Toronto stock market in 2020 for at an enterprise value of $736 million and has backed the business in carrying out follow-on deals, hired investment bankers at Evercore and BMO a year ago to run a sales process. Brookfield was reported last September to have submitted a bid for the business, which was reported at the time to have a value of as much as $1.5 billion.
IPL Plastics, whose products span from food containers to wheeled bins, was once known as One51. It has been led for the past 14 years by chief executive Alan Walsh, who is also on track to become the head of the merged entity.
That company was set up in 2005 as an investment business spun out of food and agri group IAWS (now Aryzta), and initially held a diverse range of assets from a stake in infrastructure company NTR to Irish Pride Bakers.
Mr Walsh has spent his first six years at the helm unravelling the group’s collection of disparate investments, including a major stake in ferries operator Irish Continental Group, to turn it into a focused rigid plastics company.
In June 2018, the group, by then renamed as IPL Plastics, floated in Canada.
The sale to Madison Dearborn in 2020 saw legacy Irish investors from One51’s early days, including farmers, dairy co-operatives and high-net-worth individuals, exit.
However, major shareholder Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec rolled almost 25 percentage points of its then 27 per cent stake into the Madison Dearborn deal in 2020.
IPL mainly manufactures sustainable, rigid-plastic products for the food, consumer, environmental and agriculture sectors, largely in North America, with significant manufacturing operations in the UK. It has about 2,500 employees across 16 manufacturing sites and reported revenue of $822 million in 2024.
Schoeller Allibert manufactures returnable transport packaging, including bulk containers and plastic pallets, serving customers across sectors such as automotive, beverage, food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, retail, and material handling, primarily in continental Europe.
Headquartered in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands, it has approximately 1,600 employees across 11 production locations and had revenue of €550 million in 2024.
“The future of packaging lies in sustainability, innovation and adaptability. This merger will allow IPL and Schoeller Allibert to combine our strengths on both sides of the Atlantic to meet that future together,” said Mr Walsh. “With an unwavering commitment to innovation, we will not only enhance the way we serve our customers but also optimise the skillsets of both companies to build a strong, resilient foundation for growth.”
