Cross-Border Sale of Premier Paper Group to Japan Pulp and Paper Company

BUSINESS OVERVIEW

Orbis Partners finalised the sale of RADMS, the holding company that owns Premier Paper Group (Premier Paper) to Japan Pulp and Paper Company Limited (JPP) in a multi-million-pound cross-border sale.

With an annual turnover of £233m, Premier Paper is the second largest paper merchant by sales in the UK. The group has a workforce of 480 employees, operates out of 18 facilities, and has approximately 3,000 customers. Premier Paper has seen continued success over recent years to become one of Europe’s most successful paper merchants and has set itself ambitious growth plans over the coming years.

Japan Pulp and Paper Company Limited is a £4bn turnover global company which employs 3,900 people across a number of diverse sectors such as; property, ICT systems, renewable energy, recycling, paper manufacturing (mainly tissue and packaging papers) and paper distribution. With operations in North America, Central America, Asia, Middle East, Australasia and Europe; JPP is a business operating in many diverse sectors but with paper at its core. It is best known in the UK for its publishing merchant Gould Paper Sales.

Premier is an excellent fit with JPP’s growing worldwide paper merchanting business and Orbis provided fantastic support in facilitating the transaction. Orbis provided not only strong commercial input but also took good care of the detail as the transaction progressed through the stages from LOI through to completion.

Dave Allen, Managing Director

OUR ROLE

Having been approached by JPP, Orbis was appointed by Premier Paper to negotiate on price and terms to ensure the best deal for shareholders and then manage the sales process through to completion.

Specifically, Orbis:

Invested time in understanding the business, ensuring key selling points were identified and highlighted to the buyer.
Negotiated on price and terms to ensure the best deal for the shareholders of Premier Paper
Managed the preparation and flow of information throughout the due diligence process.
Prepared analysis and negotiated on components of working capital and net debt to maximise net proceeds at completion for the Shareholders.
Assisted with negotiating key commercial aspects of the legal documents to ensure the successful completion of the deal.