Compliance scheme and recycling solutions company Valpak has announced proposals on a restructure that would see it 70 per cent owned by its management and 30 per cent owned by German compliance scheme owner Greenpoint.
The proposals follow on from an initial offer made by the management team in August 2011 and have been assessed and recommended by the independent directors of Valpak.
Under the terms of the new offer, the management team will own 70 per cent of the business, and Green Point Holdings SCA (which owns German compliance scheme DSD) will own 30 per cent.
Each of the 4,004 members will receive £340 as an initial consideration (£1.4 million in total), which is double the original proposal. A further £270 deferred consideration will be payable to each member (£1.125 million in total) if the packaging regulations continue in 2013.
The business will remain focussed on UK compliance and Greenpoint have made £2 million capital available for investment in the future development of services and products both in the UK and internationally.
While Valpak’s management have also agreed not to sell any shares for a minimum of three years, while all Valpak staff will be able to participate in a share options scheme.
Valpak chief executive Steve Gough said: “Since our initial plans in the summer were put on hold, Valpak received a number of expressions of interest for the business. Of all the expressions of interest, the approach from Greenpoint offered the best future structure for Valpak and its members.
“In particular, I am very pleased that as well as offering an improved compensation for members, the revised offer guarantees access to funds that will enable us to develop and invest at a faster rate than we would have been able to do otherwise. In addition, we have built a scheme whereby existing staff will have the opportunity to develop a stake in the future success of the company through a share options scheme.”
As part of the deal Greenpoint will have representation on the board of Valpak, but its existing independent directors will remain to ensure continuity for at least a year.
Greenpoint’s Philippe von Stuaffenberg said: “We are delighted to be involved with Valpak in this very exciting new venture. During our discussions with Valpak we have been very impressed with the quality of its team, and we are looking forward to working closely together in the future.
“We also want to stress to Valpak members that we believe the UK recycling compliance system works extremely well and should remain in place. We are eager to learn from and apply Valpak’s expertise and experience with the UK system.”
