Canada’s CCL Buys Innovia Group
Canadian specialty label manufacturer CCL Industries has agreed to pay 1.13 billion Canadian dollars ($839 million) for Innovia Group, the makers of the UK’s new plastic five pound note. The acquisition of the UK-based firm is expected to make CCL the world leader in the fast-growing market for polymer banknotes.
The Toronto-based company is buying Innovia from a consortium of UK private equity investors managed by The Smithfield Group. CCL expects Innovia to generate net revenue of about 570 million Canadian dollars in 2017 and forecasts its pro-forma annual sales will exceed 5 billion Canadian dollars after the deal.
The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2017, subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals.
CCL said Innovia’s pre-eminent R&D and high technology capabilities provide a platform for growth and for further enhancing its offering in markets such as security printing, polymer extrusion and surface engineering. The addition of Innovia’s film “fingerprinting” and “optical imaging” technologies to CCL’s own product lines will create a security printing powerhouse, the Canadian group said. CCL Label and Innovia already jointly develop proprietary, specialized applications for labels and other packaging products.
According to CCL, the use of plastic banknotes, which currently only account for 3% of the global market, is on the brink of a “disruptive breakthrough” versus traditional notes. Plastic banknotes are already in circulation in several countries including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Romania Vietnam, Brunei, Chile, among others.
However, the new five-pound note that was introduced in the UK in September has come under fire from animal rights campaigners, vegetarians and religious groups who object to the use of tallow – or animal fat – in its manufacture. The Bank of England said it is working with Innovia on a potential solution to the issue.
