Since 31st March 2020 a new reference shareholder has entered the capital of the French paper and packaging distributor Antalis. The buyer is the Japanese Kokusai Pulp and Paper (KPP), who is leader in paper production in Asia and Australia. The main shareholder was the French group comprising Sequana, which is currently being compulsorily wound up, and has therefore changed its ownership. The Japanese group has signed an undertaking to acquire the shares in view of the future purchase of the entire stock held by Sequana, a takeover contract for the purchase of all the shares held by Bpifrance Participations, as well as restructuring agreement signed with Antalis and its creditors concerning the company’s syndicated loan of 100 million euro. Once these transactions are finalized, KPP will launch a simplified tender for Antalis’ remaining shares.
As stated by Antalis’ CEO Hervé Poncin, «Antalis, its managers and teams are glad of the merger with KPP, thanks to which a new chapter in Antalis’ international development is likely to unfold, which should take advantage of new means to strengthen its positions on its various markets». 2019 was a particularly difficult year for the French manufacturer. The group, which has been particularly penalized by the plunge of the paper market in Europe, registered a 9.7% decrease in turnover in the first nine months of the year. According to the press release, with the change of its shareholder Antalis will establish “a world leader in the distribution of paper, packaging and visual communication items that will be present in four continents (Asia, Europe, Australia, Latin America), with a turnover of nearly 5.3 billion euro (3.2 billion euro of which for KPP) and 3.3 million tons paper sold every year”. Antalis, which employs 4,700 employees and is present in 39 countries, distributed 1.1 million tons paper in 2019.