Orbis advises on a new acquisition for Premier Paper Group
Orbis Partners has advised Minworth headquartered Premier Paper Group on its acquisition of speciality packaging and retail display company WBC.
Established in 1989, WBC, which has 55 employees and an annual turnover of £18 million, is now a leading packaging and display product supplier to the speciality drinks and food sectors. WBC is the latest acquisition by Premier as it expands into added value and complementary markets and follows the purchase of lamination film supplier Zulu Packaging (Now Premier Lamination Films) in July this year.
WBC has an excellent reputation and the name has strong brand equity within its market sectors and will remain unchanged. In addition, the current management team and all 55 WBC employees will be retained to ensure the continuity of customer and supplier relationships, high service levels and to facilitate future growth.
The Premier Paper Group had a turnover of £187m in 2021 and is a leading supplier of paper, packaging and materials to the UK market. In turn, Premier is part of OVOL Japan Pulp & Paper Co. Ltd., a global company that operates in 21 countries with a turnover of $5bn.
The Orbis team comprised Partner Chris Gregory and Manager Nick Reed. Gateley led by Partner Matt Hussey provided legal advice with Financial Due Diligence led by Andrew Sproule at BDO Birmingham.
We are delighted to welcome the WBC team into the group and we are excited to be supporting them in the next phase of their development. Although the businesses sell to very different market sectors, many of the same values are common to both organisations. Having WBC as part of our group will open up many opportunities for all parts of the company to develop product and service offerings through the sharing of knowledge and expertise. The acquisition of WBC is an important next step for Premier as we continue to complement our traditional paper merchant business with expansion into added value sectors.
Michael Beever, CEO, Premier Paper Group
We are very pleased to have advised Premier on its latest acquisition. We worked closely with Premier management team throughout a competitive process to acquire WBC which included support in presenting the opportunity to Premier’s parent Japan Pulp & Paper Co. The addition of WBC provides further expansion in Premier’s offering in the growing specialist packaging sector.
