AV Packaging, the German packaging joint venture owned by Allianz Capital Partners and utilities group, is offering €17.78 per share to small shareholders in fellow packaging company Schmalbach-Lubeca, in a squeeze-out transaction, according to a report in German newspaper Borsen Zeitung.
The cash offer is being carried out through AV Packaging subsidiary Vago Dreiundzwanzigste Vermogensverwaltungs, the intermediate holding which now directly owns 97.64 per cent in Schmalbach-Lubeca.
The offer values the entire Schmalbach-Lubeca group at roughly €1.7 billion. With income from the transaction, Schmalbach-Lubeca plans to pay off debts, which are estimated at around €1 billion.
Schmalbach-Lubeca has already sold its PET bottling activities to Australian-based Amcor, and now concentrates on drink cans, although it plans also to sell off this division.